Liberty Bell Principal will Walk to School to Honor Promise, Save Lives

It will be early when Liberty Bell principal Sam Hafner straps on his sneakers to leave for school May 29. 

3am to be exact. 

May 29 is the day that Hafner will walk to school from his home in Macungie (about 12 miles), the reward for the students of Liberty Bell in March. 

(Follow the story on our Facebook page for updates and information the day of the walk)

Though Liberty Bell students will all feel like winners, it's children half-a-world away who will benefit the most. That's because Hafner has expanded his walk into a fundraiser for the Clean Water Project. 

"As a parent, an educator and an elementary school principal, I want to 'walk the talk,'" writes Hafner on his personal Clean Water Project website.  According to the website, the Clean Water Project raises money for partners in developing countries to dig wells, build dams, collect rainwater and filter dirty water to make it safe for drinking. Though it may not seem like an intuitive match, Hafner believes that the key to a good education is water. 

"A lack of access to clean water affects education. If you are sick, you cannot go to school. If teachers are sick, classes are canceled. If you are too busy fetching water, you cannot study. Without clean water it is much harder to grow food, and hungry children are not good students. These struggles make poverty inevitable," writes Hafner.

As of this writing, Hafner's website has raised $1,100 toward the $10,000 goal. 

(Click here to make a donation to the Hafner's Clean Water Project site)

Hafner's walk started as a part of the a challenge Hafner issued to all 331 students at Liberty Bell to "reach for the gold" by earning medals based on how many books each student read. Students read 50 books for a bronze, 75 for a silver, and 100 for the gold. 

The students earned a total of 1,040 medals, said Hafner, and circulation at the library was up more than 40 percent from last year.

"It's great for the kids," says Hafner. "Any reading count[ed], newspaper articles, magazines...chapter books can count as multiple books. They love it."