Lady Gaga-Inspired Costume Worn By School Principal

Lady Gaga-Inspired Costume Worn By School Principal

A Boston public school principal showed up in school on Tuesday wearing an eye-catching Lady Gaga costume and prepared to milk a cow.  This is to show to his students that “promises are not made to be broken.”

Justin Vernon, the principal of Roger Clap Innovation School in Dorchester, Mass., challenged his 170 students in kindergarten through fifth grade last October to read a combined 10,000 books by the end of the academic year.  The students wanted something in return, though.

"They [challenged] me, saying 'If we're going to have to read all these books to meet our goal, you've got to do something for us," Vernon said. "Somehow I got stuck with dressing up as Lady Gaga and milking a cow."

The students exceeded their goal by 3,000 books, averaging more than 75 books per student, Vernon said. Books read for class and read aloud to parents counted toward the total.

To check students accountable for their home reading claims, teachers had them fill out logs for their parents to sign. Kenny Jervis, whose son Nigel is in kindergarten and daughter Sofia is in third grade at Clap, said his children "really took the challenge to heart," even competing among themselves.

By June, Nigel had read 200 books, including three from C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series, and Sofia reached 150 books. Nigel and Sofia's reading "really blossomed" over the course of the challenge, he said.

First-grade teacher Tim Apple said the school's weekly town-hall meetings, at which each grade touted its book tally and a field trip to an IMAX theater to witness an underwater documentary celebrated 5,000-book milestone, helped keep students motivated.  But Apple said the promise of seeing their principal dressed as Lady Gaga was a key factor driving students to read.

"Students were always asking 'Is he really going to do it?'" Apple said.

Their curiosity was answered Tuesday morning when a tall figure in heels, snug black tights and a black dress emerged from a black limousine outside Clap.  Adorned with a tiara, necklace, oversized sunglasses and lots of makeup, Vernon made his way toward a cow in the middle of an athletic field behind the school.

Students, some accompanied by parents, swarmed around their glamorously dressed principal and chanted "Milk the cow!" "Milk the cow!"  until Vernon, pulling back his long blonde wig, knelt down and did what he promised.   All these were met by rounds of applause and cheers.  Now, that’s what we call a Teacher!

Posted by Kade Quinn on Saturday June 23 2012, 8:22 AM EST. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0