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(#0543 RIVERHEAD, New York, April 5, 2006) The Phillips Avenue
School recently spent a week celebrating reading. Their week
long celebration called appropriately "Phillips Avenue
Reading Week" featured "Decorate Your Door (scene
from a favorite book) and Read-A-T-Shirt Day" (Monday),
"Hats Off to Reading Day" (Tuesday), "Team
Up and Read Day" (Wednesday), "Poem in Your Pocket
Day" (Thursday), "Curl Up with a Good Book Evening
(Thursday), and "Sweat it off with a Good Book Day"
with everybody dressing up in "sweats" (Friday).
On "Poem in Your Pocket Day," Phillips Avenue Principal
Thomas Payton handed a pencil to every student who could produce
a poem from his pocket and read or recite it when he asked
them. "I gave out every pencil I ordered," Mr. Payton
stated. "I handed out over 200 pencils throughout the
course of the day."
At the beginning of the week, Mr. Payton issued a challenge
to the students at Phillips. He promised them that he would
have his head shaved if they (as a school) could read at least
60,000 minutes that week at home! (The number of minutes was
decided by figuring 500 students reading 30 minutes per day
for 4 days.) The kids (and their parents) took the challenge,
and Reading Week culminated on Friday with a "Reading
Week Celebration Assembly" that included a haircut for
Mr. Payton.
During the assembly, Mr. Payton, who had not had his hair
cut since December and has beautiful, thick, wavy black hair,
told the cheering children that they had not read 60,000 minutes,
but had in fact read 96,844 minutes that week! Then, he gamely
pulled back the curtain on the stage to reveal first grader
Kenny Ramos' mother, Luisa, a hairdresser (from Luisa's Magic
Scissors in Riverhead), and her son, Juan, a barber, waiting
to cut Mr. Payton's hair.
"Kenny was very enthusiastic about Reading Week,"
explained Mrs. Ramos. "Every night, he would say, 'Come
on, Mama, we've got to sit down and do our reading!' I think
the challenge was a very good idea. My son, Juan, who graduated
from Riverhead High School and went to Phillips and Aquebogue,
is going to do the cutting. I am very proud of him. We are
preparing to open our third salon. He is the youngest barber
in Riverhead. He went to school at night."
Mr. Payton took a seat on stage. Juan put the smock over his
shoulders, and the students shouted in unison, "Cut his
hair, cut his hair, cut his hair . . ."
The clippers began to buzz and the long, wavy hair floated
to the floor. The two first graders on the stage watched closely
as Juan worked. Mrs. Ramos assisted, wiping Juan's face as
he cut carefully. Then Juan took the microphone and asked
the students, "How's that?"
"Cut it shorter, cut it shorter . . ." they shouted
in unison.
Mr. Payton looked worried. Juan attached another blade and
began to cut again. Kenny grinned.
Finally, the clippers were silenced. Mrs. Ramos held up a
mirror for Mr. Payton to see. The kids cheered and a wan smile
broke over Mr. Payton's face.
Some principals will go to any length to get their kids to
read!
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