Armed with rolls of duct tape, students surrounded their principal and successfully taped him to the wall. No, this wasn’t some sort of strange mutiny designed by elementary students-–the students, and teacher Gordon Miller, say it was for charity.
“Each year, we encourage students to participate in a fundraiser for the American Heart Association,” explained Gordon Miller, 7th and 8th grade teacher at Shenandoah Valley Adventist Elementary (New Market, Va.) “As an incentive, students were told that for every $10 they raised, they would receive an inch of duct tape.” The principal apparently seemed like an enticing victim, as students set out on their mission and raised more than $3800, making SVAE the number one fundraising school for the American Heart Association and the number one in participation in the Shenandoah Valley. Paisley Robertson (pictured below), a first grader, put her all into it and cashed in her $320 for almost three feet of duct tape.
Along with fundraising, students were taught the importance of health and fitness by participating in 90 minutes of jump roping. Students were divided into teams of six and alternated between jumping for two minutes and resting for four, long rope and double dutch.
“We choose the American Heart Association, because as you get older, each one of us has probably met someone who has had a heart attack or something similar,” said Miller. “This is an opportunity to teach students about health, the idea of helping others and making other people’s lives better.”
