The students could smell it in the air, quite literally. The payoff for their hard schoolwork had arrived.

The bellowing sounds of a pungent, 900-pound longhorn Charolais echoed Wednesday off the walls of Clements High School as giggling elementary students made their way to their big reward. Kissing is not usually encouraged at school. However, Clements assistant principal Lori Brocato was about to kiss a cow.

“This is going to be one of the funniest things,” said fifth-grader Alex Brooks.

Brocato was held to her promise to kiss a cow if each elementary student met their reading goal for the school’s reading rodeo, a program to promote literacy.

“The things I’ll do in the name of education,” she said

Each student in kindergarten through fifth grade met individual goals, qualifying for four free books to take home.

“She’s going to get slobber on her,” laughed fifth-grader Sebastian Toussaint.

Clements agriculture teacher David Wilbanks offered his cows to take the sacrifice. His cow-trailer carried a full-grown Charolais cow, but to the children’s surprise, and slight disappointment, a much smaller calf emerged from the trailer.

Brocato tried to get away with a small kiss to the forehead of the drooling calf, but the children wouldn’t have it.

“On-the-lips! On-the-lips!” they chanted.

The overpowered principal looked for a cloth to wipe the calf’s mouth.

“Are your lips ready?” one boy shouted from the crowd.

The assembly erupted as she went in for the second kiss.

Some wondered about their principal afterwards.

“She’s got to be crazy to do it,” Brooks said.