Pigging out on books
Mike Sciacca
Three students in Michelle Lopez’s fifth-grade class at Sun View
Elementary School sat at a round table and looked with interest -- yet
some detachment -- at the prized possession placed before them.
Each of the 10-year-olds briefly held the soft, round pink hand
puppet, then passed it around before placing it at the center of the
table.
When Alex Siordia placed it on the table, she did so in a manner that
forced the puppet to let out a strange noise.
It was a snort, which declared just what posters plastered across
campus warned: The pig is back.
The Pink Piggy Fund-raiser at the school is a program that encourages
students to read. The classroom at each grade level that reads the most
pages or books each week gets to keep the pig in their classroom. The top
reader in each class has the opportunity to keep the pig in their
possession. Winners will be announced on Monday mornings.
There is one prized pig for each grade level.
Each student sets a personal goal of how many pages or books to read
during the course of the four-week fund-raiser, and seeks sponsors to
back them for the amount of pages or books that they read over the course
of the month.
Last year more than $5,000 was raised.
Money raised will be used to fund field trips, enrichment programs and
the purchase of classroom supplies.
The class that raises the most money by the end of the fund-raiser
will get a pizza party. The top reader in each grade level will receive a
$25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble booksellers.
Reading for the contest will be done at home, said Lopez.
“I plan on reading 40 pages a night,” said Cristina Robinson, 10. “I
like to read fantasy and fiction type books.”
March is designated as Read Across America month and last Friday was
National Reading Day. The second annual Pink Piggy fund-raiser serves
several purposes, Principal Allan Pogrund said.
“First, our main focus is that we want our children to read,” he said.
“Second, by making this a fun contest, we are able to raise funds to help
support some of our programs. Third, the pages our students read will go
toward our total in the Governor’s Reading Award program.”
Pogrund said that Sun View has a goal for its students to read two
million pages during the governor’s competition. Last year, Sun View
students read 1.2 million pages.
“The challenge is not about reading two million pages, it is getting
the children to read every day,” Pogrund said.
Activities during the Pink Piggy include window decorations in each
classroom, a guest reader week, a book trade and pigs in a blanket, where
students are allowed to wear pajamas, bring blankets and pillows and read
all day long, Lopez said.
* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached
at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.
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