10,000 Book Challenge

If we only had $1 for every time someone said, ‘can you do me a favor?’ In 2006, we read a very rough press release but saw the news potential in a small story emanating from Harrington Park, NJ – the 10,000 Book Challenge. On his first day at Harrington Park School, Principal Scott Davies challenged the school’s 700 students, grades K-8, to read 10,000 books of their choice.

Confident it would take them until the spring, he agreed to do whatever they asked as a reward. When their tally reached 12,000 plus books by Thanksgiving, he knew he had to make good on his promise – sooner rather than later. So, on the coldest night of the year, after a spirited pep rally, he shaved his head, painted it blue and climbed a ladder to the roof of the school to spend the night under the stars.

We saw this as a great opportunity to make some news for the school and for the students who had worked so hard to reach their goal. So, we got to work.

In less than 48 hours we secured both local and national newspaper coverage along with segments on all of the network affiliated TV stations in the greater New York area. Live coverage from Harrington Park School, including interviews with Principal Davies and the students, was featured on WABC-TV Eyewitness News, WCBS-TV, WNYW-TV, and CNN Headline News. WPIX-TV sent reporter Julie Cheng to broadcast five live segments from the roof of the school.

In addition, our story caught national attention and was featured on Good Morning America. One week after the event, the students and Principal Davies were invited to the set of The CBS Early Show to do a live weather segment with meteorologist Dave Price.

With both parents and teachers looking for a way to motivate their kids to step away from their computer screens and video games and get engrossed in a book, we knew the 10,000 Book Challenge had all of the ingredients for a great news story.
And, we were right.