I am writing in response to the letter submitted by Bill Pirkle (“Human sundae makes mockery of education,” June 14) regarding Nautilus Elementary School principal Cindy Black and the school’s PTA-sponsored Read and Lead program.

It is disheartening to know that someone like Mr. Pirkle would think that what was done was mockery. In this day and age, our children are required to grow up so very fast. What Mrs. Black did was nothing but give those children absolute joy and a fun way to celebrate their accomplishment of going 500,000 minutes above the school goal for the year.

Please remember, this is a PTA-sponsored at-home reading program that is designed to ignite and maintain the joy of reading outside of school hours. If Mr. Pirkle had done any “homework” at all prior to submitting his letter, he would have found out that the “sundae” had a reason. The children’s final treat that they earn on their way to their “gold medal” is story time with Mrs. Black while eating an ice cream sundae.

Furthermore, had Mr. Pirkle looked into things, he would have found a completely new and revamped Read and Lead program that was based on baseball and teamwork. So throughout the year, not only did the children surpass their school and many personal goals, many learned something new about one of our nation’s wonderful pastimes.

I would encourage Mr. Pirkle to take a more active role in the community before condemning an amazing principal, who does nothing but empower each and every one of her students and faculty to reach goals that they did not think possible. I would also strongly question his reasoning for comparing any of the students at Nautilus to convicted felons?

The support that the students have from faculty and parents at Nautilus make it a place where I am proud to send my child. It is also a humbling honor to serve the students and faculty as part of the PTA at Nautilus.

Cristi Frederickson-Willis,

Federal Way