Principals can be pretty creative when it comes to motivating their
students to learn. For 20 years, NAESP Board Member and Michigan principal Bill Rich has been visiting classrooms as “Zero the Hero” to inspire his K-1 students. When Zero the Hero is around, dates that end with a zero become very special days as the children become engaged in all types of counting activities.

“Like most schools, we have a big celebration for 100 Days, but it is important to celebrate each Zero Day to give the students a shorter time between celebrations,” says Rich. “As the students become excited about an upcoming Zero Day, the teachers can use that motivation for asking questions about numbers during the daily calendar times. On Day 47, for example, teachers can ask questions like: “How many days since we last saw Zero?” or “How many times has Zero visited us this year?”

“While I have never admitted to a parent or student that I dress as Zero, I can’t walk into our middle school or high school and not have students say, ‘There goes Zero the Hero,’” says Rich. “We all do some crazy things to participate in the education of our students. Hopefully we can leave students with some enjoyable memories.”