The prospect of watching their principal once again dance on the roof — and plunge into a dunk tank — was enough motivation for kids at Oakland’s Think College Now elementary school to turn into bookworms this school year.

Students at the Fruitvale-area public school, which opened in 2003, read 1.5 million minutes since last fall — all outside of class, the school tells us. After brainstorming ideas for their reward, the student council decided to put Principal David Silver in the tank. They also promised their electorate that a staff member would take the plunge for every 50,000 minutes read over 1 million.

“The initial front-runner was an elaborate scene that had Silver bungee jumping into the schoolyard from a helicopter. After some deliberation, the council members deemed that plan unfeasible…” wrote Benj Vardigan, the school’s communications coordinator.

That was probably a wise call. I have to say, though, a principal bungee jumping from a helicopter would be an ingenious way to get some national press.