Pigs Bert and Ernie, from the Holtsville Ecology Center, made a special trip to Verne W. Critz Elementary School to have Principal Brian Ginty give them a kiss in the “Hog and Haircut Reading Challenge”.
Mr. Ginty challenged his students, consisting of Kindergarten through 3rd grade, to read 10,000 books. He promised he would cut his shoulder length hair and kiss a pig if they met this goal. After only 5 months, the students met the challenge by reading well over 10,000 books!
To the delight of his students, Mr. Ginty held a special assembly on Monday, March 6th, where a teacher from each grade level whose class read the most books, cut a piece of his hair. Afterwards, Mr. Ginty’s personal hairdresser came by to finish it off with a “high and tight” haircut! True to his word, he then puckered up to Bert and Ernie, planting a kiss on each of them, amidst the cheers and laughter of all!
Although the spotlight centered on Mr. Ginty, we can't forget the real stars in this story - the Verne Critz students, who worked hard to meet the challenge. As much fun as it was, the end goal was to get students reading and indeed it did!