Tulip Grove principal doesn't chicken out on his promise By MATT ARMES Staff Writer
It's not every day you see a school administrator greeting students while dressed as a chicken. But for Brian Baudoin, last Friday was his day.
The Tulip Grove Elementary principal followed through on a promise he made earlier this school year - if the students met their fall fund-raising goals, he would wear a chicken suit for a day.
"This was about setting goals for yourself and making a plan to achieve them," Baudoin said. "It's also about promises made, promises kept. They did their part, and today I'm doing mine!"
Due to the opening of Northview Elementary, boundary lines were altered and student attendance at Tulip Grove was almost split in half, Baudoin explained. With 243 students, the school needed to raise sufficient funds to meet its operating budget.
"I said they had to sell 740 items in this fall's fund raiser to reach our goal, so each child had to sell at least three items," Baudoin said, adding that the students had exceeded their goal considerably and sold 955 items from the selected fall holiday gift catalog.
His outfit garnered a great deal of surprise and delight from the students. Kobie Johnson and Anastacia Hill, both 6-year-old first-grade students in Shannon Landefeld's class, thought Baudoin was "very funny." Hill added, "I don't think he'll do it again."
"I'm not surprised," 10-year-old fifth-grader Jeffrey Findlater said. "During physical education, he was walking around clucking and doing the chicken dance!"
Fellow 10-year-old classmate Aly Hill remarked, "It was really cool. I had never seen something like that before." Hill added that she doesn't expect him to do it again either.
Findlater and Hill, both in Tina Holmes' class, said that this wasn't the first time they had seen a school administrator dressed in a costume. The school's last principal, Dr. David Scuccimarra, dressed up as Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat.
Carmie Naleski, PTA president for the school, applauded Baudoin's light-hearted humor with the students.
"I think it's absolutely fantastic," she said. "It's great for the students, and it's a great way to set goals and to follow through with them."
Affectionately referred to by the students as "Mr. B," Baudoin has been serving as principal since July. With the boundary changes and decreased student enrollment, Baudoin has been a bright addition to the school.
A little over two weeks ago, Tulip Grove partnered with the Patuxent Nursery to plant 1,000 tulips throughout the school grounds. Baudoin said the students, parents, and school staff that volunteered to plant the flowers arranged them in a pattern that resembled the school's "tiger" mascot colors.
"Tulip Grove has turned into a small neighborhood school," Baudoin smiled. "There has just been a great sense of unity from the students, the parents, the school staff and the local community. Anything is possible when you work together like this."
Baudoin is no stranger to keeping his promises when it comes to school fund raisers. While serving as principal at Hyattsville Elementary, he organized a similar competition. During a school assembly, Baudoin focused on motivating the students to improve their exam scores. If the students' performances improved, Baudoin promised to shave his head and have it painted with the school colors.
"Well, they improved in every area, and the faculty shaved my head and painted it blue and gold!" he exclaimed. "It's the things like this that gives us joy in the job, that there's excitement in what we do."
