Principal Dresses Up As Lady Gaga As Part Of Bet In Students' Reading Challenge

Last October, elementary school principal Justin Vernon (not that Justin Vernon, obviously) challenged the 170 students in kindergarten through fifth grade at his public school in the Boston area to read a combined 10,000 books by the end of the academic year. The challenge did not come without some conditions:"They pushed back on 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 told local news station WCVB-TV. "Somehow I got stuck with dressing up as Lady Gaga and milking a cow."
Vernon made good on his promise this week when the students at Roger Clap Innovation School in Dorchester exceeded their goal by 3,000 books, averaging more than 75 books per student.To monitor the students – three-quarters of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch with a fifth receiving special education services – accountable for their home reading claims, teachers at the school had parents fill out and sign logs."Students were always asking 'Is he really going to do it?'" first-grade teacher Tim Apple said.Hipster Cop Dresses Sharp For Justin Bieber.They got their answer when Vernon arrived in a stretch limo wearing high heels, a frilly black dress, tiara, blonde wig and oversized sunglasses and made his way to the school's athletic field, where a cow awaited him.
Imagine the hue and cry at our house that night! Not coincidentally, Mom wrote a weekly column syndicated nationally in the Catholic press about our family called just that: "At Our House." She was always seeking column fodder.Boy, oh boy, here was a doozie.My sister Mary wore The Dress for her wedding. As did others. Many others. And not just sisters. Cousins, friends, friends of friends; my niece Maureen wore it in 2006. Remember all that's needed is a fitting. Cleaning and storage, natch. Perhaps an alteration, the taking in and the letting out, maybe some replacement fabric here or there. The Dress now has a library card of its appearances, which stays with it in storage.Her personal mantra during her treatments was "to be the best that I could be every day," she said, but she sees the wisdom in Ms. Ashwood's appreciation of everyday beauty.
Arriving at Magee-Womens Hospital to receive the dress, she gamely put it on and paraded through the lobby -- even wearing it upstairs in hopes of finding her co-worker's cancer nurse. Normally reluctant to do public speaking, she drew smiles and cheers from patients as she and Ms. Ashwood explained to those waiting for treatment about the wedding dress and the contest.