Reporter The
High School Play Pictures on A4-5
November 2014
What’s Up for November? Take a Look Inside...
A2: • RCAS makes AP Honor Roll • Girls Basketball League Teaches Sportsmanship
A3: • What Home Means to Some Fourth Graders
A4 & A5: • Feature Photo Pages
A6: • Pinedale Elementary Recognized as Outstanding School
Freezing for the Sake of Reading Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer Ask any adult, and a day sitting in a tent, reading all day long would sound like a great break. Unless it happened to be -7 degrees with wind chill outside. But for Canyon Lake Elementary Principal David Swank, that was his idea of a great time to teach students the importance of reading. The idea formed when one of the teachers in the building signed up for Book It!, which, when Swank was in 2nd grade, was the turning point for his academic career. “I didn’t realize it at the time; all I knew was I got free pizza, but it did get me to read more,” Swank said. “So anything that I can do to promote excitement in reading, I’m going to be behind.” As part of the Book It! program, there is a challenge for principals to read from first bell to last bell and principals typically perform the challenge in an absurd way, like suspending themselves from the flag pole. While there are some things that Swank said he would not do, he said the plan originally was to set up a little camp in the playground so students could come out throughout the day and read with him. When the weather did not cooperate, he decided to still go through with the plan by himself.
A7: • SD DOE Messages Principal Swank’s tent could be seen set up outside the school all day.
Principal Swank could be seen curled up in his sleeping bag all day, reading over 300 pages in one day to teach the importance of reading.
“I committed and I didn’t want to change the plan,” he said. “I want to teach the kids about perseverance and honoring your word as well. I was the only one out there who had to suffer, but there was still a lot of excitement around the building.” Throughout his time in the tent, Swank read 300 pages from multiple books. For himself, he read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. He also read The Star People to a few classrooms via Facetime and a Dr. Seuss story to a few classrooms, and poems to kindergarten classrooms. “I really have to give recognition to the staff members who always brought me something warm to drink,” Swank said. After the cold stint in the tent, Swank said several students told him they had set up their own tents to read in, but in the comfort and warmth of their living rooms. The crazy stunt has gotten kids talking about reading more, which is what Swank was hoping for. This is not the first time Swank has been known to do crazy stunts for the sake of reading. Last year, any kid who met the reading challenge for Read Across America got a piece of duct tape and students were allowed to duct tape Swank to the wall in the cafeteria.