The invitation came to read a book to Mrs. Cotterill’s second grade class on February 23, 2026.
We agreed on Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m. as the date to read.
The invitation excited me, but there was some selfishness too. Our grandson is a student in Mrs. Cotterill’s class at Summerfield Elementary School in the Guilford County school system.
Friday, March 20, my wife and I drove from Richmond, Virginia to Summerfield Elementary School. Our drive was uneventful. We arrived with time to spare.
We were warmly greeted by the office staff. Additionally, we met the principal and assistant principal.
My wife and I know a bit about schools. We spent our careers working with students, parents, and teachers in Virginia’s public schools.
I grew up in Burlington, North Carolina. Little did I know that I would become part of the 4 R’s saying: ‘reedin’, ‘riting’, ‘rithmetic’, and the ‘road to Richmond’.
My success in Virginia as a teacher and administrator was always connected to my teachers in the Alamance-Burlington School System and the professors who instructed me at Greensboro College.
I had read books to elementary students in Virginia, but this reading made me nervous. I didn’t want to embarrass our grandson.
The walk to the classroom took a couple of minutes, but I could feel the pulse of the school.
Some classes were outside for recess or physical education. The school has nice outside learning stations. Every classroom we passed, students and their teachers were hard at work.
In prepping to read, Mrs. Cotterill and I planned to use technology to project the book on to a monitor. This allowed all students to follow along while getting a full view of the book’s illustrations.
We tested the technology, and luckily, the technology gods were playing nice this afternoon.
Mrs. Cotterill gave me a kind introduction. I spent a few quick minutes telling the students a bit more about me and the book we would be reading—“The Principal’s Pink Tutu Run.” Full disclosure, I’m the author of the book.
I wrote it about a real experience I had working as an elementary school principal.
As we started, my pace was anxious and rushed, but I settled down. I was impressed with the students. They were attentive and quiet. As I read, I appreciated their chuckles. Before I knew it, we were on the final page.
We had a few minutes for questions. The students asked some good ones. I took great pleasure in letting the students know that everyone has the ability to write a book. Writing a book is really about will power and continuously pushing yourself.
I will never forget my time with this class. That is because of the work of their teacher, Mrs. Cotterill, her students, and their parents. Students have a better chance to find success in school when teachers, students, and parents work together.
Working in schools, I felt from the time a child comes into this world until his/her first day in kindergarten are the critical formative years. Family stability, parameters in place for the child, and taking the time to read to this child are vital to their finding success.
Tacked on to those essentials are helping parents understand how important they are in working to support and build relationships with their sons and daughters teachers.
I was lucky— my family was stable, my parents were supportive of my teachers and me, and my grandmother always read to me when she visited.
It’s a tough world out there.
However, I left Summerfield Elementary School feeling hopeful about those clear-eyed, good listening, and inquisitive second grade students.
That’s why it is so important for all of us to work together to make sure these students and thousands like them across North Carolina have every opportunity to find success in their schools and communities.
Author’s note: I submitted this as an op-ed piece to the Greensboro News and Record on March 23, 2026. The word count was 772. On March 24, I received an email from the editor stating that he would like to use the piece. He asked that I shrink the word count to 650. I did that. I sent the piece back at 647 words. He confirmed receiving it. I reached back out to the editor on April 4, asking if he had been able to run the piece. Here we are on April 17, and to the best of my knowledge the piece never ran in the Greensboro News and Record. Disappointing, but that’s ok. That Friday afternoon with our grandson’s class is one I will never forget. Bill Pike
might be baloney 