WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — It wasn't your typical story time at Wiregrass Elementary School on Friday as the school's principal read books from more than 30 feet in the air.
Principal Steve Williams, on-top of the roof with a mega-phone in hand read books to his students in the courtyard down below.
“Well, we really are into student engagement. We believe that students should be engaged and have fun reading. We don’t believe that reading should be boring,” said Williams.
This past summer Williams challenged his students. If they read for a total of 150,000 minutes, he would spend an entire day on the roof.
“When all was said and done, they logged 161,000 minutes so I’m here to honor my promise,” said Williams.
Each class was asked to send up books in a bucket for principal Williams to read out. He then critiqued the books live on Facebook, almost like a book report.
The students had smiles on their faces as they looked up to watch their principal reading.
“Some of them, especially the younger ones, wonder how I got up here, at least one student has thought I’m Spiderman and I crawled up the side of the wall,” said Williams.
Some students were worried about his safety, but he assured the school that he had plenty of water, a fan, snacks and shade. He said it’s the student's enthusiasm for reading that carried him through the day.
“If this is something that is going to motivate kids we are going to do it every time,” said Williams.
