Bridge Valley Elementary Principal Spends Night On School Roof

Doylestown PA

03 May, 2021

6:39 PM

Description

FURLONG, PA —Bridge Valley Elementary School Principal Kevin Cochran spent Thursday night/Friday morning camped out on the roof of the school, fulfilling a promise he made to the students before the pandemic. In February of 2020, Cochran said he would spend a night on the roof if the students raised over $8,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Pennies for Patients program. Just by bringing change from home, which was collected in a wheelbarrow, the school raised $8,500. But then COVID-19 hit in March, in-person schooling came to an abrupt halt and Cochran was never able to come through on his promise. But he was not getting out of it that easily. When the kids returned to school this year, many had the same question. "Right away, kids started asking me (about spending the night on the roof). Kids don't forget easily," Cochran said. The principal said he definitely would do it this year if the kids once again reached the $8,000 goal for the 2021 fundraiser. They ended up raising about $7,500, which now was collected online rather than in a wheelbarrow due to health and safety protocols. Having reached $16,000 in two years, Cochran agreed to spend the night on the roof, which he did last Thursday. Cochran already was up on the roof and waving to the kids as they left school on Thursday. And he waved to them when they arrived on Friday morning. Overnight, Cochran posted videos of him putting up a tent -which he later had to tie down because of heavy winds- and playing bean bags, frisbee and soccer by himself. He even gave students a tour of the roof. Sixth-grader Lizzy Fluck delivered dinner and breakfast, which was hoisted up to the roof via a rope and basket. Fluck actually has battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is now in remission, and has been featured in some of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's literature. Cochran said the district had decided on the charity before Fluck's illness, though her battle no doubt made the cause even more meaningful for everyone. Though temperatures were in the mid-60s, wind and rain made it a less than ideal evening for Cochran, who said he is an experienced camper, but one who usually sleeps in an RV. Cochran did sleep on the roof, though said he answered honestly when many students asked if he left the roof to go to the bathroom. "A lot of kids were asking me that, and I did wind up making a discreet visit down off the roof," Cochran said. Along with the money raised, Cochran said he hoped his night on the roof helped bring some additional fun at a time when COVID-19 protocols have restricted many activities at the school, which has about 675 students from Buckingham Township and Warwick Township. "Even though we're in-person (learning), our health and safety plan restricts a lot of the fun activities: no field trips, no outside playing games together, like they normally do. Everything is very structured and sterile now, and has been," Cochran said. "You look for activities like this, which can still be fun in a year that has been pretty limited in opportunities for fun activities."