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Hot-pink Mohawk makes the grade Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Art Peterson made a bet he was happy to lose. Months ago, the Oak Grove Elementary School principal told his fifth-graders that if they could meet or beat the state average on either math or reading achievement tests, they could restyle his hair for the last week of school. Edgar Garcia, left, and Brandon Pulido, both 8, get a kick out of the results. Oak Grove principal celebrates test scores that are a cut above By Vicki Guarino A deal is a deal, even when it is a hot pink mohawk. Oak Grove Elementary School Principal Art Peterson struck his eye-catching bargain months ago. If the school�s fifth-graders could meet or beat the state average on either math or reading achievement tests, they could re-style his hair for the last week of school. Really. "They got to choose," Peterson said. "They could pick the color and the style.�� Peterson saw his offer as an incentive to struggling fifth-graders. All Oregon elementary students take standardized tests in the third and fifth grades. By the time they�re in the 10th grade, they take the tests for the Oregon Certificate of Initial Mastery, the CIM. Third-graders at Oak Grove � and generally, throughout the county � do well on the tests. Scores typically start falling in the fifth grade. "We see that over and over,�� Peterson says. "It�s a real interesting phenomenon.�� Peterson wanted to do something to put the brakes on the fall. Last year�s class missed the mark by two points. This year, they beat the average in math by .3 of a point. "It was great,�� Peterson said. ��We all got out the calculators. They are so tuned in to math right now.�� The state Department of Education will do the official grade averaging for a complete report on test results due out in August. Meanwhile, some principals and teachers are working with individual student scores to work up their own, unofficial averages. According to Oak Grove�s unofficial tallies, the fifth-grade reading average was two points below the state average. But the math score was enough for Oak Grove�s 73 fifth-graders to call Peterson�s bet. No one needed a calculator to see that the hot-pink mohawk idea won by a landslide. The president of the school�s Parent Teacher Organization did the �do. The coif was a hair-raising experience for more than just Peterson. "I had a busy calendar,�� he said. "I had a meeting with a grant committee, I had interviews with teachers, I had a meeting with the West Medford Coalition. "I had a doctor�s appointment. I blamed him. I told him that it must be a reaction to something he did.�� Public reactions were mixed. "In restaurants, old folks would kind of look away, but the kids, wow, they would all come up to me.�� Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA