Principal comes out on top, despite losing bet
Linwood's Clark camps on roof when school exceeds charity goal
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

JENNIFER AMATO Principal Pete Clark spent Friday night sleeping on the roof of Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick after promising students that if they raised $500 for their million-penny project in a two-week period, he would camp out on the school grounds. Clark stayed from around 6 p.m. Friday to around 3:45 a.m. Saturday morning.

NORTH BRUNSWICK - As hundreds of Linwood Middle School students tucked themselves into bed Friday night, they dreamed of their principal, Pete Clark, sleeping on the roof of their school.

To provide motivation for a final push to collect 1 million pennies for the school's "What's a Million?" project, Clark told students he would sleep on the roof overnight if they collected $500 between May 29 and June 12. The students raised $588, so on June 15 he made good on his offer.

"I'm bringing some books up there, some reading and some schoolwork," Clark said before his climb to the top of the building. "I have my cell phone and I live a few blocks away, so my family will stop by during the night."

In true school-spirited fashion, the principal wore a Linwood T-shirt and carried an American flag with him, which he attached to his chair. He was equipped with a table, a bed, an air mattress, a blanket, donated food and two jugs of coins for him to count. Fire Company No. 2 provided the ladder for him as well as two spotlights for the night.

The students who watched his ascent seemed pleased when Clark reached his destination. Sixth-grader Emily Carey believed the idea was necessary for the final push but said that her principal "[is] crazy because he's spending the night on the roof without a tent and without a toilet. It's just, it's a roof for 11, 12 hours - it's kind of weird."

Vicki Wang, an eighth-grader, said the students were supportive of the project but were surprised he actually did something like this, which is completely out of his character.

"I think it just shows he really loves us, and he has the guts to do it because he loves us that much and he cares about us," she said.

"I think it shows if you want to do something for a good cause, then you should do something that will give more money," added seventh-grader Caroline Connolly. "He deals with us, so he can deal with anything."

Clark originally planned to stay on the roof this coming September if his sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students read a designated number of books. Considering this would "shake the kids up a bit," the principal said that despite his staying in a hotel while his wife camps with her family, he would brave the elements and show students how to put themselves to the test for a worthy cause.

"I think people like something out of the ordinary," he said. "This statement [says] if you work hard enough, you can reach the top level … but I also wouldn't recommend for anyone to do this."

Speaking to him after his night on the roof, during which teachers joked they wanted him to do some patchwork to stop leaks into their classrooms, Clark said that "everything did go fairly well." He stayed until around 3:45 a.m.

"It was a nice evening up there," he said.

The penny project was organized by Linwood teachers Mark Amatucci and Amy Rafano, who were inspired by Joyce Kosa, a retired Spanish teacher from South River High School who based her project on a Tennessee school that collected 6 million paper clips to represent victims of the Holocaust. Linwood's goal was to collect 1 million pennies, or $10,000, in an effort to donate the money to the North Brunswick Food Bank. Although at press time only around 600,000 pennies had been brought to school, Rafano said the project was still highly successful and the project will continue next year.

"Every penny counts, whether it's 6,000 or 2,000. We raised it with a goal in mind. You don't always attain your goals, but you become much stronger. … No matter who you are, what you are, anything, anyone can participate in this event. If you give $1 or $10, anyone can do this."

The roof event came after a school year's worth of programs designed to promote interest in the project. There were lunchroom and homeroom contests, a penny toss and Penny Lane, and a showcase of facts about the history of the penny as well as hunger throughout the world. There were poems and short stories written, a PowerPoint presentation, computer graphics, science experiments and a guessing game.

For more information about the penny project, call (732) 289-3600.