by Michael J. Pach

Three teachers and a police officer lost their hair at Mountainside Elementary May 9 due to the literary efforts of the entire student body and the Rockin' Readers program.

Teachers Joe Vergilio, third grade, Michael Griffin, second grade, and Bob Trujillo, second grade, promised the students they would shave their heads if the school's overall goal for reading was met by the end of the second semester.

The students were gathered in the school's gym for an assembly where it was announced that they exceeded their goal. They screamed with delight upon hearing the news and chanted, "Shave it off!" as the clippers came out and the hair started to fall.

"I am so proud of the students for reaching their goal," said Vergilio. "I know they (the students) worked really hard this year and I'm just so excited. As for my hair, I'm looking forward to having a nice tan this summer."

"I'm really proud of the children," said Griffin "The teachers that put the program together did a good job and made a difference to a lot of students. I only regret that I didn't have more hair to give."

"I'm glad that the children met their goals," said Trujillo. "I never wanted to shave my head but for them I would do it again. I'm proud of them and my hair will grow back."

Jeff Castro, school resource officer, Fort Carson Police, was so inspired by the students' achievement that he sacrificed his hair as well.

"I'm really proud of the children for doing a great job and I felt that they deserved a little extra," said Castro.

The Rockin' Readers program at Mountainside started in January as a way to encourage students to read more by setting individual, classroom and school-wide goals for reading.

The program was implemented by Mountainside teachers, Lara Quintero, Amber Richarson, Nicholle Shurgart and Vergilio when they realized that students weren't reading enough.

The Rockin' Readers program is based on the Scholastic Reading Counts program, which awards points for each book read. The teachers set goals for the program by looking at the points earned during the first semester of the school year (6,490) and

doubled them (12,980). This meant that students had to read twice as many books in the second semester as they did in the first.

Mountainside students were given incentives such as extra recess for individuals who met their goals and trips to the bowling alley for classes that met their goals.

The incentives for reaching the overall school goal were the head shavings and a skating party at SkateCity.

The incentives were motivation enough for the students to earn 13,750 points for the semester, placing them at 110 percent of their overall goal.