NEWBURY PARK : Principal Hits Roof Over Math Scores

After four years at Newbury Park’s Manzanita Elementary School, Principal Phil Parish was driven to the roof on Monday by his 570 students.

But it was not frustration that led Parish to climb a ladder at 8:30 a.m., wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and armed with a huge water gun.

It was because the students had proven themselves such whizzes at math that Parish agreed to spend much of the school day trampling across the gravel-topped roof from one classroom to another, congratulating students on their achievements.

“In the spring, minds tend to wander to things other than the classroom,” Parish said. “This is one way to get the students’ attention and keep them motivated.”

The total of nearly 3 1/2 hours that Parish spent atop the one-story building was calculated in advance, based on the number of correct answers that Manzanita students had given on various tests and exercises in recent weeks.

First-graders, for example, had taken a “mad minutes” exam, with each student trying to answer 30 addition problems correctly in two minutes or less.

Twenty-seven of the 30 children in Alice Cole’s first-grade class completed the test, earning the class 13 1/2 minutes. Many of the students squealed with glee on seeing Parish standing high above them.

Students offered Parish notes of encouragement, artwork, handmade fans and cool drinks, placing them in a bucket that he lowered from a rope. Parish playfully squirted water onto the students from his water gun, and one class threw water balloons back at the principal.

Teachers said the stunt raised enthusiasm about learning. “Some kids who have a problem getting excited about things got excited about this,” said second-grade teacher Julie Escudero.

“I think it’s good,” said Lindsey Seemann, 7. “Now I know most of my math facts.”