THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606180130
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 79 lines
THE STUDENTS at Larchmont Elementary School sent Flat Stanley to San Diego by reading 2.5 million pages this year.
On June 10, as a reward for the literary feat, their principal and assistant principal staged a vaudeville show of corny jokes, silly props, a tap-dance routine and some rousing rock 'n' roll numbers.
To thunderous applause, peals of laughter and unschool-like hollering, the students cheered on principal Eddie Hall and his assistant, Pat Morgan, during the Monday morning assembly. The two, dressed in baseball shirts, even got a few groans with jokes like this one:
``Why doesn't the ocean say goodbye?''
``It prefers to wave.''
Wielding baseball bats and wearing caps, Hall and Morgan tap-danced, twirled and pantomimed while students sang ``Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'' Then they changed outfits and began twisting, shagging and swiveling their hips to the more fast-paced ``Do You Love Me?''
When Hall executed a few shimmys and pelvic thrusts, the kids went wild. After all, they never had seen a principal shake like that before.
For the last number, the two performing administrators skipped through the audience, urging students and teachers on stage, while the song ``Shout'' blared across the auditorium. Dozens did, creating a frenzy of swaying, shouting and jumping. Joining in, those in the audience rose to their feet, clapped their hands and shouted, too.
``This was worth the wait,'' Chris Storer, 6, said, clearly enjoying himself. ``I thought it was going to be a Pee Wee show.''
The students had little inkling of what was in store for them when they arrived in the auditorium for the show. All they knew was they were getting a surprise for accomplishing a mission many believed to be impossible. In fact, the theme song from the movie ``Mission Impossible'' played as they filed into their seats.
``In March, we were beginning to think we wouldn't make it,'' said Pamela Griffin, the school's reading teacher. ``We were only halfway there. So the teachers began making reading a nightly requirement. Two weeks ago, we finally realized we were going to make it.''
The reading challenge was inspired by the book ``Flat Stanley,'' written by Jeff Brown. The character gets flattened when a bookcase falls on top of him.
``He's so flat he can fit into an envelope,'' said Griffin, who helped spearhead the project. ``So we decided that's exactly what we'd do.''
Calculating about 3,110 miles from San Diego to Norfolk, the teachers decided every 800 pages students read would equal one mile. The more the students read, the farther Stanley would travel.
``It was an incredible task to keep track of all those pages,'' Griffin said. ``Each child kept a monthly reading log.''
Throughout the year, as Flat Stanley ``visited'' such cities as Amarillo, Texas, and St. Louis, Mo., students learned about those places in their classroom. But toward the end of the year, Stanley was speeding so fast across the country that he didn't have time to make any more stops.
``We couldn't do it at the end, because we got frantic,'' Griffin said with a laugh. ``We were so intent on our goal. We didn't realize until Friday that we'd make it.''
Even after making their goal, however, the Larchmont students kept reading. Just a few days before classes dismissed for the summer, they were still logging miles.
``Last year, our principal and assistant principal read to the students from the roof,'' Griffin said. ``I think they were expecting something big again this year.''
They got it. ILLUSTRATION: ABOVE: Larchmont kindergartners, from left, Jocelyn
Holloway, Chanel Poole, Marlee McDonald and Jeyna Lynn Valencia
enjoy the surprise performance during morning assembly.
RIGHT: Hamming it up, principal Eddie Hall and assistant principal
Pat Morgan tap-dance for the students to the tune, ``Take Me Out to
the Ballgame'' during the vaudeville show. The performance,
including corny jokes, was a reward for the students' success in a
reading program.
Staff photos by BILL TIERNAN
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOLS by CNB