Rising to the top of the class

Muskego - Sleeping on a bed of stones is bound to cause a bit of insomnia, even if the cause is worthwhile.

Principal Gary Goelz awoke on the roof of his Country Meadows Elementary School, W16399 Hilltop Drive, about 3:15 a.m. Friday and couldn't sleep.

"A bed of stones is not the most comfortable," Goelz confided.

But it's the perch he had promised to take for one night if the students met their fundraising goal in the Country Meadows PTO fundraiser. The youngsters met their $4,607 goal, plus an extra $44.62.

So, up their principal went in a bucket supplied by the Tess Corners Fire Department, accompanied by a firefighter. It was better than a ladder, Goelz said afterward and he was glad the volunteers came on their own time to help.

Greetings from below

His 7 p.m. ascent was accompanied by wild cheering and screams from students who were there with their parents to watch the spectacle. On the roof, Goelz spoke to the crowd of about 60 with a megaphone and waved.

As the evening progressed, he had many visitors.

"They would honk their horn," Goelz said, and he came over to the edge of the roof and spoke with them.

A few even brought treats - a fruit plate, brownies and candy corn, among them.

"They really helped me get through the night," he said.

Another night at the office?

In between visitors, Goelz sat cross-legged on his sleeping bag that sat atop a foam mat and worked on his laptop. He read emails and, aided by a flashlight, did what he could to prepare work for the next day.

About 10:15 p.m. he took out the book he brought with him, read a few relaxing words and nodded off.

But by 3:15 a.m., his padded bed proved to be inadequate against the stone base on which it sat.

At least the weather was at its best and, thankfully, unseasonably warm.

"It was like summer," said this stout veteran of many a camping trip, noting that it was the late-November cold that kept him awake when he did the same thing for the same fundraiser last year.

So, in the profound stillness and darkness of the night, the sleepless Goelz returned to his laptop and waited for dawn.

Eventually, while families still slumbered in homes nearby, Goelz photographed the first rays of the sun to touch the community that morning.

Goelz stayed at his post until the kids arrived for the 9 a.m. start of school.

Even before the school buses came to a stop, he could hear excited little voices shouting, he said.

"'Oh, it's Mr. Goelz, he's on the roof,'" he heard.

He stayed there for the kids because he wanted all of them to experience the reward they had earned.

"I think they felt rewarded," he said.

Worth the effort

The effort by the children and by Goelz himself was for a good cause, he said.

In past years, the PTO has given the fundraising money back to the school in the form of keyboards for the music program, interactive white boards for classrooms and busing costs for all-school field trips.

The PTO has been generous in covering costs that the school could not fit into its budget, Goelz said.

The PTO has held the fundraiser annually for several years, always promising some kind of reward for the kids meeting the goal. The principal on the roof was the payoff for the last couple of years.

The fundraiser's importance is recognized far beyond the school.

Muskego Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti came to school last week to serve ice cream sandwiches to the third grade that won the competition for contributing the most toward the cause. An ice cream sandwich party with a mystery server was promised for the top class.