School principal bet he'd sleep on the roof if his students solved 1 million math problems — big mistake

Sometimes, a loss can actually be a victory in disguise. An elementary school principal from Image Coolidge Elementary, Arizona, had one such experience when he challenged the students to complete one million math problems over the break and promised to sleep on the rooftop if they managed to do that. Once the break was over, it was clear that the students had won. So, the principal decided to fulfill his promise by sleeping on the rooftop for a night, according to ABC15.com.

Eventually, the principal climbed up on a Thursday night and documented his entire experience. He also read a bedtime story for his students from his spot for the night, which was displayed on a big screen for them to hear and see. In one of the videos uploaded by the school, the principal, Eric Collins, was stuffing his pillow when someone from behind the camera asked, "Hey, Mr. Collins. What are you doing?" He answered, "I am just getting my pillow ready for tonight." He was stuffing his pillow with shredded pieces of all the math problems the kids had completed. "What?" the person exclaimed. "One million math problems, inside of this garbage bag," the man explained. He also pointed out that his pillow was all "comfy" and ready for the night.

The principal was also wearing math-themed pajamas while fulfilling his obligations. In another video, he greeted all the families from his school at midnight. "It is currently midnight on top of the roof. So far it has been pretty good. It's actually a very nice night out to be sleeping on the roof, if that's a thing." The weather was neither too hot nor too cold that day. "There's a little bit of wind. It's very quiet and calm, which is super nice." He added, "Can't complain. The only difficulty in sleeping on the rooftop is all the noises going off, every now and then." 

"Things are going well. I am going to get some sleep, and I will check in a few more hours. It's midnight on top of the roof; have a good night," he remarked. The next morning, the principal made his morning coffee on the rooftop as well, according to ABC 15.com. "They really loved it, and I think it helps when the kids are excited about it," Collins said, talking about the bet. More than 600 kids from kindergarten to fifth grade at the school participated in the challenge and managed to accomplish the goal with utmost enthusiasm. The main goal behind the challenge was to increase math fluency across all the grade levels at the school.

One of the students expressed that they solved math problems every day and night to help achieve the target set by their principal. It was the main talk of the campus and students were excited to see packets come in every day and the measuring thermometer (keeping a count of their progress) reaching higher and higher as time passed.

"He is amazing. He motivates our students to want to continue learning, to want to continue growing," a teacher pointed out about Mr. Collins. The next morning, the principal greeted the students from the top of the school building with a big smile on his face and said that he was glad he could get kids excited about Math.