As a way to motivate the students, Principal Mark Fleming promised he would kiss an animal in front of the whole school if the students could earn enough accelerated reading points. Fleming was about to pucker up for a piglet.

Thousands of hours of reading and hundreds of books led the students to this point and their cheers rang through the halls Thursday morning when it was announced they had met their goal.

They had earned 10,419 points in a month and a half, which represents hundreds of books and thousands of hours of reading.

Students cast 66 votes for Fleming to kiss a goat a second year in a row and cast 190 for the pig.

At the moment of truth, Fleming came out from behind a curtain holding Charlotte - a black-and-white pot bellied pig. He put on his grape ChapStick, stretched his lips and planted a kiss on her snout, eliciting a chorus of “eeeews” and cheers from the students.

Fleming said the students really get into these kinds of challenges because they get to embarrass their principal. The day before a student handed him a small toy pig and said he should practice.

“When you have that kind of inspiration they read more,” Fleming said. “It’s a fun way to make independent reading exciting for kids. I am very proud of them.”

Thornton students tend to scores in the high 90s on the reading portion of the TAKS test, he said.

This is not the first time Fleming has used this motivational technique. In the winter of 2005, on one of the coldest days of the year, Fleming could be found standing behind a plywood cutout of SpongeBob, taking a wet sponge in the face for every student who met an accelerated reading goal. The following winter, when students met their 10,000-point goal, Fleming had to kiss a goat on the mouth.

“It’s amazing the things he does for our children,” fourth-grade teacher Beth Olejnik said.

And, he has other ideas for motivating the students in the future.

“The kids want a monkey next,” Fleming said. “Though I don’t know where we can find one.”

nkchandler@temple-telegram.com