High School Students Duct Tape Principal for Charity

During lunch Wednesday at , students could be heard chanting: “Tape him up. Tape him up.”

They were crowded around Principal David Helinski, who allowed students to duct tape him to a pole for charity—four times. 

Students could purchase pieces of duct tape approximately 3 feet long for a $1 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and wrap the principal with it, hoping to bond him to a pole in the center of the cafeteria.

The challenge was to see if students could provide enough tape and put it in the right places to keep Helinksi attached to the pole with duct tape when the chair he was standing on was removed. Apparently the word spread quickly when Helinski fell down in 1.8 seconds after the first lunch period.

Students in the following three lunch periods stepped up their donations and the tape held Helinski to the pole until he was cut down after several minutes.

This event is the culmination of a week and a half of themed dress-up days at the high school that all centered around raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. All of the activities were organized by social studies teacher Rick Bell’s Leadership 2 classes.

The students got to choose the charity—and Make-A-Wish was selected for the fundraiser based on the class project by Rebecca Veres, a senior.

“I chose Make-A-Wish because it helps children and I plan to be an education major,” Veres said.

Also in the cafeteria, they set up a sundae bar where students could purchase ice cream with toppings for a $1 donation to the fund. Donations were received from in , , Schneider's Dairy and McDonald's.

The family of Joe Graziani, one of Bell’s students, donated the duct tape.

The school's goal is to raise $3,900 because that’s what it takes for Make-a-Wish to grant one wish through the foundation. 

“We raised $2,200 coming into today and hundreds of students are participating in the duct taping and sundae purchase,” Bell said. 

One more activity will wrap up the week today, May 31, when teachers are selected for the “pie in the face” fundraiser by having the most tickets featuring their face purchased for $1. Students who bought tickets will be randomly selected to do the honors for the winning teachers.

Social studies classes are also having a change drive and donations will be accepted at the high school through May 31.