ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By KATHY LU STAFF WRITER
Chants of "Dunk Ms. Flippen! Dunk Ms. Flippen!" made the Clearbrook Elementary parking lot sound like an NBA arena during a playoff game Friday afternoon.
But principal Cristina Flippen wasn't dunking. She was sitting in a dunking booth.
While their friends cheered them on, the 7- to 11-year-old students took turns throwing balls at a target in hopes of tumbling her into the water below.
"It took me three throws to dunk her," said second-grader Josh Roupe, who was the first to hit the bull's-eye. "I knew I was going to do it. I just had to aim and take my time."
The students earned the chance to take a shot at Flippen when they met her challenge of doubling their total points in Clearbrook's Accelerated Reader program.
Students gain points by reading books and answering questions about them. The number of points depends on the difficulty of the book and the number of questions answered correctly. A student got a throw for every 15 points earned.
Fourth-grader Jessica Brim used her three shots well; she was the second to dunk Flippen and the first to do it twice.
"Dunking Ms. Flippen is my favorite part," Brim said. "This is the best time of my life. I've never done anything like [this] before."
Last year, the school totaled about 1,500 points. As of Friday, the students had accumulated 3,066 points this year.
"The kids have really enjoyed it," said Karen Pendleton, the school's language arts coordinator. "They were constantly telling you how many points they have, and they ask for books all day."
The second grade came in first among the four grades with a total of 1,616 points. Fourth grade came in a close second with 1,184 points.
Second-grader Lisa Meyer read the most books: 269. She got to take 10 shots at Flippen.
"I read a lot," said Meyer, who, unfortunately, did not sink Flippen. "I like to read when I don't have much to do."
Nevertheless, Flippen was soaked to the bone by the time all the students took their shots.
"I felt a little silly at first," she said with a laugh. "But I hope that this is something the kids will remember. I want them to learn that by working hard, they get to do something real special."
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. 1. Above, second-grader Josh Roupeby CNBtakes a shot at Cristina Flippen, Clearbrook Elementary school's
principal. He was the first student to dunk her. 2. Flippen taunted
students from the dunking machine seat after losing a bet with them
on a reading program. In one year, students doubled their
participation in Clearbrook's Accelerated Reader Program (Ran on
C-1). color. 3. Clearbrook Elementary School students give a big
cheer as their principal Cristina Flippen gets dunked Friday. 4.
Flippen hooks the dunking machine seat back and readies for the next
shot by a student.