<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>I am not sure what our principle will do in the gorilla suit? He is pretty conservative!
The banana contest is great!<hr></blockquote>

Does he have the ability to laugh at himself? That is an important part of the banana contest coming off the right way. But it sounds like you've got a good working relationship there, so he should be the kind that accepts being the butt of the joke if it is for a good cause. And remember -- the costume can be a liberating thing, many people will do things dressed up in a costume they would never dream of doing "in real life".

My high school did the banana contest, and chose the WRONG person. In a school full of people who would have embraced the new nickname "bananaman", they chose a kid who decided to get angry. I would offer to send you a photo of the contest, but as yearbook editor I was told I couldn't print one. Pick your victim wisely.

We just had a books for bingo night at school. Instead of winning money we won books. Every child who came with a parent or adult received a book no matter what. My husband & I took both of our children and came home with 6 books. They gave away door prizes also. We had parents who came who never show up for anything at school. This was a wonderful night for the family. OUr school plans to do one again in March. Scholistic is where we bought the books. They had a special 100 books for $ 99.00. If you need any help, just email me and I could give you more information.

Good luck,
Janine (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

KC
Love the ideas! We are going to do both of them! I am not sure what our principle will do in the gorilla suit? He is pretty conservative!
The banana contest is great! The moms love this idea!
Thanks!
Do you have any ideas for a career fair?? That is the other big event I chair. This is our first year doing it. They want it to be hands on. We are getting goodie bags to hand out at the end with donations (pens, pencils, key chains etc.) that companys have donated. The fair is for 5th grade.

Let me know!
Amy

KC
Love the ideas! We are going to do both of them! I am not sure what our principle will do in the gorilla suit? He is pretty conservative!
The banana contest is great! The moms love this idea!
Thanks!
Do you have any ideas for a career fair?? That is the other big event I chair. This is our first year doing it. They want it to be hands on. We are getting goodie bags to hand out at the end with donations (pens, pencils, key chains etc.) that companys have donated. The fair is for 5th grade.

Let me know!
Amy

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>3. If the kids meet the school wide goal, we are going to decorate the main hall like a jungle and our principle is going to do something special, we don't know what yet.<hr></blockquote>

Two ideas pop into my head immediately. One fun. One EVIL!

Fun: Have the principal dress up in a gorilla costume and do...something. Dance on a table in the cafeteria. Direct traffic in front of the school. There are lots of possibilities.

Evil: The blindfolded banana eating contest. Have an assembly in which the principal, maybe a teacher, maybe a representative from the two or three oldest classes, have a banana eating contest. However, to add a little bit of challenge, they have to wear blindfolds while they eat the bananas -- four or five bananas is a good number. On the signal to begin eating, remove the blindfolds from every contestant except the principal.

Sounds like you've got a great reading program lined up, with lots of incentives to draw in even the kids who don't like to read. Let us know how it all turns out!

Thanks for all of the GREAT ideas.

We had a meeting tonight and this is what we are going to do:

1. A "kick-off assembley" introduce our program, have a skit by the teachers.

2. We are going to have a "jungle theme" and for every 30 minutes the kids read, they get their name on a banana or a monkey (cut from the ellison press). We will put these up in the halls.

3. If the kids meet the school wide goal, we are going to decorate the main hall like a jungle and our principle is going to do something special, we don't know what yet.

4. We are going to have a long banana-split dessert stretched across the cafeteria for a special celebration treat.

5. We are going to have key people in our community read to the kids on our live newsbroadcast. for ex: our mayor, hockey players etc.

6. There are prizes for top readers and ribbons for all who participate.

The Jungle theme was an idea from a friend in Ohio!