Every year the teachers and administration of Conejo Adventist Elementary School challenge students to read as much as they possibly can. During Readers' Emphasis Week, students all work extremely hard to read extra pages.

This year, students were challenged to read 32,000 pages. They were required to keep track of all pages read at school and at home, with parents and teachers confirming the work. Daily prizes were given out for the top readers for each class. Each day, special quiet times were given at school for the students to read.

The excitement of the final prizes kept a lot of students reading during recesses and lunch times. A book fair accompanied the week, with opportunities to purchase new books after school. At the conclusion of the week on Thursday evening, students attended Starlight Story Night. They arrived wearing their favorite pajamas to listen to stories narrated by guest readers. Milk and cookies followed, with the announcements of all the top readers who received a $50 gift certificate for the Scholastic Book Fair and a "Limo and Lunch" date with the principal.

Students who reached their reading goals were also given a chance to put the teacher of their choice in a "dunk" tank the day before spring break started. Teachers reportedly were good sports as they got their dunking, because they knew the young people had worked very hard to reach their goals.

The goal of 32,000 pages was shattered when the students read a little more than 40,000 pages. This also meant that the principal had to dye his hair completely blonde, since he had made a deal to do so if the students beat last year's record.

Referring to the principal's hair-dye requirement, eighth-grader Madeline Plesh said, "Mr. Hudema should have known better and made our goal harder. It serves him right for underestimating us!"

"I was motivated by the limo ride—and the fact that I had a lot of books that I wanted to read" said Mark McCulley, an eighth grade student who read just over 2,600 pages during the week.