Principal, Librarian Spend A Day On Roof
The students of Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Pearl City sent their principal and librarian to the roof for 24 hours as a reward for winning a reading challenge.
Principal Cindy Olaso and librarian Heidi Valencia climbed onto the roof at 9 a.m. Jan. 31 and came back down at 9 a.m. the next day. The women did not have access to a warm bed or the ability to take a bath or shower. But it was all worth it.
The women had some bare essentials. They slept in pop-up tents and had sleeping bags, snacks and flashlights.
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Students, teachers and staff of Our Lady of Good Counsel School cheer on school librarian Heidi Valencia and principal Cindy Olaso as the pair completes the final minutes of their 24 hours on the school roof. Their high-altitude stay was just one way to reward the voracious reading logged by the children during a schoolwide reading challenge. Photo by Lawrence Tabudlo, ltabudlo@midweek.com.
“This has been the most challenging, being on the roof,” said Ginger Kamisugi, a teacher’s aide for the second grade. Last year, the reward for reaching the reading goal allowed students to create ice cream sundaes with toppings all on top of the principal and librarian.
The 248 students of Our Lady of Good Counsel read a total of 10,301 books in a span of three months, exceeding their goal of 9,500. The second-grade class, made up of 23 students, read about 3,000 books.
Reading criteria included a minimum amount of pages per book, but took into account varying reading levels for each grade.
As Olaso and Valencia climbed up to the roof, the students kicked off Fun Day an event that included inflatable bouncers, sumo wrestling and games.
The next day was Spirit Day, where each class performed a special dance, which they called a spirit dance, after the principal and librarian returned to Mother Earth.
“At Our Lady of Good Counsel, we recognize the importance of reading,” Kamisugi explained. “Every year we try to inspire, as well as challenge our students to read.”
