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.