Propels Principal on 299-Mile Bike Trip
Donald Bryan, Spokane Junior Academy principal, launched a 299-mile bike trip at a “send off” assembly in the school gym on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004. Bryan had promised to ride 100 miles on his bike for every 30,000 pages read by students during the summer.
Awards were given to star reading students. Together they read 89,626 pages to send their principal on the extended bike ride.
Christian Robins, a seventh grader, was the top reader with 40,344 pages. As the summer’s top reader, he received the “Reading Puts Ideas in Motion” trophy .
Five other students were awarded medals with red, white, and blue ribbons for their reading accomplishments. They are:
- Brennan Stanyer, 5th grade, 11,567 pages
- Emily Gobel, 4th grade, 7,293 pages
- Braden Stanyer, 3rd grade, 6,320 pages
- Morgan Stanyer, 1st grade, 5,358 pages
- Andrew Durnford, 3rd grade, 2,290 pages
Other participating students received “Reading Puts Ideas in Motion” T-shirts.
The idea came from a spring, 2004 staff discussion on ways to keep students engaged in learning over the summer months. “Reading Puts Ideas in Motion” grew out of the discussion. Families signed up for the program and weekly reading sheets signed by parents were turned in over the summer.
Bryan and his family left early Thursday morning, Sept. 23, for Everett, Wash., to begin the long ride back to Spokane Junior Academy. That evening about 4:30 p.m. Bryan began his bicycle trip from Mukilteo State Park.
His five-day trip took him from sea level southeast along the Snohomish River into Monroe, over Stevens Pass (elevation 4,061 feet), then down through the orchards and vineyards of Leavenworth, Peshastin, and Cashmere, along US Highway 2 through Orondo, and across central Washington.
On Monday, Sept. 27, Bryan rode triumphantly onto the Spokane Junior Academy playground. Students were cheering his arrival. That day he had completed the final 41 miles of his long trek across Washington.
“Reading does put ideas in motion, and when families commit to reading with their children, there is no end to what they may accomplish,” Bryan concluded.
"Seventh-grader Christian Robins won Spokane Junior Academy's Top Reader Award presented by Donald Bryan, Principal. Christian read 40,344 pages over the summer."
