The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Monday, March 1st marked the beginning of one month and the end of another; however, for the students of J.H. Kerr School it meant a whole lot more than that. It was the end of Reading Month and time for a debt to be collected. At the beginning of February 2004, the school's students took on a challenge from staff. If they could read enough books to acquire 3,000 points (based on the age of the student and the size of the book), all staff members would do something out of the ordinary. With that promise in mind, the school's principal, Dean Elliott took to the podium at J.H. Kerr's monthly assembly. His face adorned with a forlorn look, Elliott announced that the students had in fact reached 3,000 points, and had actually surpassed that mark by 1,406 points. He explained that when he saw the figures, he thought that it might be a good day to call in sick and had even tried to talk several people into being the principal for a day. But there were no takers when they found that they'd have to carry through with what Elliott said he would do Ð shave his head Ð if the students reached the 3,000-point mark. With students, parents, and staff in attendance, the fun began. Elliot announced that as agreed, that morning the administrative secretary, Cathy Stabback, wore a dress to school, the phys-ed teacher, Christine Kerr, wore long johns, English teacher John Kerr wore earrings (for a week) and grade 1 teacher Lynn Smith sang a song (she wrote herself) over the intercom. He explained that because of what was involved, the following would take place by the next Monday: history teacher Alan Beilman will dye his hair and wear a Maple Leaf jersey (he didn't know which would be more embarrassing); science teacher Steve Deighton will dye his hair and get a tattoo; librarian Tammy Walker will dye her hair and wear makeup and a new hairstyle; grade 5 teacher Twila Korchinski will dress up in something stupid; kindergarten teacher Jodie Kowalchuk will dye her hair and wear a weird hairstyle; and the following will dye their hair: science teacher Wendy Hoeksma; grade 7 teacher Carly Monias; home economics teacher Janet Morse; music/grade 5 teacher Jacqueline Nogier; vice principal Lynore Spruyt; and grade 3 teacher Esther Ward. Elliott then asked grade 6 teacher Lisa Patterson, guidance counselor Nicole Lambkin, grade 4 teacher Evelyn Webb, and math teacher Edith Steeves to come up to the front of the gym. Separately, students who were found to be deserving of the task hit them in the face with whipped cream pies. Following this, Elliot asked local hairdresser Kim Burton to bring her shears and come up to the front of the gym. Once set up there, Burton proceeded to shave the mustache off of industrial arts teacher Ray Snow, half the mustache and beard off of custodian Marc Jackson, and all the hair off of grade 8 teacher Clarence Fisher. Finally, the moment that every student in the school had waited for had arrived. As the principal assumed the chair, Burton (with the help of three of the students who read the most books) went to work on his wavy locks. She made a bit of a show of it, styling it first in a Mohawk, before shaving it down to the wood. With his hair piled at his feet, Elliott noted the worthiness of the cause and said he hoped kids would continue to read for pleasure.
