VALDOSTA — Dewar Elementary School Principal Marilyn Orr braved heights greater than 35 feet Friday to show her enthusiasm for reading.

Her ride in Colquitt EMC’s bucket was just one way the school’s more than 700 students celebrated reaching their Accelerated Reading goal of 25,000 points. Dewar’s reading theme this year is “Rise High With Reading.”

As Orr was lifted into the air, students and teachers repeatedly shouted, “Go Miss Orr.” Each time the bucket paused, the students shouted, “Higher. Higher. Higher.”

Orr maintained a big smile the entire time.

“It was not scary at all,” she said. “I really enjoyed it. I am very supportive of the AR program.”

Eight-year-old Karel White described Orr as the coolest principal ever.

“She’s so funny,” she said. “She kept going higher and higher. She’s so brave. It was a really cool thing to do for reading.”

The Dewar Elementary School family continued its celebration throughout the day with kite-flying on school grounds and a visit from one of Moody Air Force Base’s HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters.

“It was a fun day,” said Tammy Miller, media specialist, adding the students far exceeded their reading goal this year.

Keith Griffin, 8, loves reading and participating in the AR program.

“I read something everyday,” he said. “My favorite books right now are the ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snicket.”

Griffin said reading makes him smarter and teaches him lots of new things.



To contact reporter Jessica Pope, please call 244-3400, ext. 255.