Sunset Hills Elementary School students read 10,000 books so principal kissed a pig
An Alamogordo elementary school principal came up with a contest for her students: read 10,000 books and she would kiss a pig.
And that's what she did.
Sunset Hills Elementary School Principal Catherine Diaz kissed a pig at a Dec. 10 assembly to commemorate the Sunset Hills Elementary student body reading 10,000 books.
"We started a bit late. We didn't start right into August," Diaz said. "We were in September when we started and they had to read 10,000 books."
Since the student body is kindergarten through fifth grade, the younger students could count books read to them and there was no page limitation.
Which means the board books and chapter books for the younger students counted the same as the older student's junior fiction and young adult novels.
Diaz kissed the pig on its head. The pig was provided by Enchanted Valley Rescue and was handled by Haven Meredith.
During the assembly, Diaz said that although she knew the students had read their books, she did not want to kiss the pig.
"They just went crazy," Diaz said. "They thought I wasn't going to (kiss the pig) and they started chanting, 'Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig!' It was funny and then I told them, 'Well, I guess I'd better get ready to kiss this pig.' I got some red lipstick on and I kissed the pig. It was a cute little white pig and they had him wrapped in a blanket. It was a smaller baby pig which I was really happy about."
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There will be a similar challenge in the Spring 2022 semester, Diaz said but this time the challenge could include a higher number of books for the students to read.
"I think they can do better than that, I think they can read more," Diaz said. "I think we're going to make it higher and we'll see what they come up with (for the spring reading challenge)."
The students have already come up with some ideas, Diaz said.
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There will most likely be a vote to see what the students decide for the spring reading challenge, Diaz.
"I just want to do anything too crazy," Diaz said,
The reading challenge comes during the New Mexico public Education Department's Year of Literacy.
“Reading is the key to learning. It’s an essential skill that really makes it possible to expand your horizons in any direction,” New Mexico Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus said in a news release at the launch of the Year of Literacy. “This isn’t just for schools and students — it’s for everyone. We want all of New Mexico to participate in celebrating a literacy that honors the rich cultures of our state.”
The Year of Learning was started to get educators and families alike "to find unique ways to celebrate reading," the news release stated.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.
This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Sunset Hills students read 10,000 books so principal kissed a pig
