Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais peers into the small tent he was spending Thursday night in as part of a reading challenge for students. The tent was set up on the school’s front steps.

Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais says goodnight to his family, Karter, 6, Madison, 9, and his wife, Allison, on the front steps of the school Thursday night. The principal committed to spending the night in a tent on the school steps, after his students completed a schoolwide reading challenge.

LEWISTON — Armed with lots of layers and an inflatable mattress, middle school Principal Jake Langlais was prepping Thursday to spend the night sleeping in a tent outside the school. 

His only concern: the weather.

The nighttime forecast included a low of 11 degrees and wind over 20 mph.

“I didn’t anticipate it would be this cold at the end of March,” he said. “I knew it wouldn’t be warm, but not this cold.” 

Earlier this month, Langlais challenged his students to read 120,000 minutes in the week of March 6-10, which was Literacy Week, and promised that if they made that goal he would sleep overnight in a tent outside the school. 

They read more than 122,000 minutes. 

On Thursday afternoon, the principal had cooking supplies and food, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to use them in the high winds. 

“Hopefully, it dies down enough that I can make my coffee in the morning.”

He said he picked this date a while ago because of his busy schedule. “I have a lot of late nights working,” he said. 

Asked how he planned to keep warm, he said simply, “Lots of layers.”

The tent idea came from one of the books in the literacy challenge, “Small as an Elephant,” which takes place in Maine and was written by Maine author Jennifer Richard Jacobson. 

“The book starts off with a camping scene, so that’s where the idea came from,” Langlais said. 

A few students stuck around to help him by standing in the tent while it was being set up and tossing boxes and bags into it to weigh it down.

Langlais had to tie the tent to the front door to keep it in place.

The students helping said it was cool that their principal was doing something like this, but they hoped it wouldn’t get too cold.

“I don’t want to see a frozen principal in the morning,” one eighth-grader said. 

Another said, “Hopefully, the tent doesn’t blow away.” 

Some students took photos of Langlais and his tent as they left school. 

To pass the time, he said he was planning to read the book that inspired the whole thing, and to try to keep warm. 

“I think I might get some visitors at some point, too,” he said. He also had his laptop on hand, because “there’s always work to do.”

Even though the weather was harsher than expected, Langlais didn’t want to back down.

“I want to uphold my end of the bargain, follow through,” he said. “I think sometimes we forget that reading can be a fun thing. Now, hopefully, the kids can connect reading to something fun.”

“Reading is very enjoyable, but sometimes with school it’s lost,” Langlais said. “We’re always looking for ways in education to make things come full circle, to build a community and connect all the dots for the kids.” 

Langlais said Sue Webber, a longtime literacy teacher at the middle school, was the front person organizing the events for the week. They had literacy labs where they played games, had a poetry slam and made bookmarks. 

They also had programs with the elementary school and high school to share the importance of reading. 

Jacobson, the author of “Small as an Elephant” came to speak with the students as part of the week, too. 

Langlais said Thursday he would stick it out long enough to greet students as they arrived the next day.

“I plan on being here in the morning,” he said. 

Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais carries armloads of blankets to fill his tent on the school steps Thursday night. He committed to camping out if his students completed a schoolwide reading challenge.

Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais greets people who came to the school to watch the “High School Musical” on Thursday night, as he readied himself for spending the night in his tent. The principal committed to the overnight after the students in the school completed a reading challenge.

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