A Sweet Smooch for the Sake of Reading — Edison Principal Aurora Sweet and the Pot-Bellied Pig

Principals do some pretty funny things to inspire their students — from standing on their hands to getting hit by pies, and from sleeping on roofs to getting turned into human sundaes (by, yes, allowing children to pour  flavored syrups on their heads). But Edison principal Aurora Sweet may have taken the cake on November 15 by agreeing to kiss a beautiful, Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, named "Bruno."

Sweet told her students that if they could read 150,000 minutes during a two-week period, she would kiss the pig. Apparently that was just the inspiration these elementary school kids needed -- they beat the school goal by reading 172,000 minutes, which works out to about 119 full days of reading.

The read-a-thon raised $28,000 for the school when parents, extended families, friends, and neighbors pledged a flat rate to children who committed to read a certain amount each night.

Sweet hammed up the pig-kissing ceremony by first trying to get out of her side of the bargain in front of her students ("I feel a little sick!" she complained) and then spraying herself with perfume, putting on lipstick, and eating a breath mint before Bruno was brought out. Then she boldly took his little face in her hands (he's only five months old) and kissed him right on the lips.

"I thought it was a little weird," Nico, a 5th grader at the school said after the ceremony, "I mean with all the make-up and everything." But Nico conceded that he had read 3643 minutes and that his favorite book had been Rick Riordan's, House of Hades.

Mira, a 3rd grader, was more enthuasiastic. "I thought it was AWESOME!" she said. "I want to kiss that pig!" When asked why, she said simply, "because he's so cute!" Added Ella, also a 3rd grader, "That was a once in a lifetime chance to see a principal kiss a pig." She didn't want to kiss Bruno, however.

When asked how the kiss itself was, Sweet laughed and said, "That was the best pig kiss I've ever had."

'Like' Alameda Patch on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter @AlamedaPatch / Share your thoughts in the comments section below