Puckering up with porkers nets Nelsen Middle School in Renton $900

Three talented porkers hammed it up for Nelsen Middle School students and staff during a recent performance at the school.

"They played soccer, they played basketball, they rode trikes, they rode a skateboard, they did gymnastics, they jumped through hoops, there's just so many different activities they did," Nelsen Assistant Principal Rebecca Schlosstein said. "It was amazing to see how well-trained they are."

Amazing enough to earn a spot on Animal Planet. Crew from the TV station filmed the pigs during the Nelsen assembly last Friday. The segment is expected to air in March.

Schlosstein was impressed by the hog trickery. But she said the kissing of the pigs was her favorite part of the performance.

Four Nelsen teachers puckered up for the big-snouted Snort. Those four kissers raised the most money during a six-day Nelsen ASB fundraiser. Ten teachers volunteered for the fundraiser. Over those six days, students placed money in 10 jars, each plastered with a competing teacher's picture.

At the end of the six days, the four teachers with the most money in their jars were selected to kiss the pigs. The winning (or losing?) teachers were choir director Brian Hoskins, John Yount, PE teacher and basketball coach, and Steven Turner and Christine Heimsoth, both seventh-grade science teachers.

The pig-kissing fundraiser raised $900 for Nelsen's ASB. That money will go toward after-school activities, field trips and activities during the school day that celebrate students.

For more information

• For more information about Valentines Performing Pigs or to book a performance, visit their Web site at www.valentinesperformingpigs.com.

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