Little feet filed quickly into the gym at Millstream elementary, the children bouncing with excitement. Their smiles of anticipation were hard to miss for staff and parents.
Last week students at the school were given the opportunity to stick it to their vice-principal, literally.
As part of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Tour de Rock fundraising campaign, students could purchase strips of tape for $1 each, with which they would secure Cory Meausette to the wall of the gym.
As the assembly began Friday, principal Julia Sahota, who has pledged to shave her head if the school raises $5,000, reminded her 210 students why they were there.
“Kids with cancer would love to run and jump like you did today,” she said, adding the money they had donated would help those children go to Camp Good Times.
The students payed close attention as she played them a short video on Cops for Cancer and the support they provide for children battling cancer.
But the anticipation was electric as she announced they had raised over $400 with this one fundraiser alone. Meausette, however, began to look a little worried as he geared up in a white hazmat suit to protect his skin from the tape. He had one thing to say: “I want my mommy!”
Jacob Vanlierop, 10, is a Grade 5 student in Meausette’s class and stuck it to his teacher four times over the course of the event. But Jacob didn’t forget why they were there.
“A lot of children can’t go out everyday and do the things we can,” he said.
He was glad they could do something to help other kids. And as a self-described fan of physics, he predicted that they had bought enough tape to make Meausette stick to the wall.
One student in particular was excited about this fun fundraiser, as staff mentioned he had spent a little time in the office during the previous school year. Well that little boy paid $30 and received a roll of tape to wrap up the event, which he did with a big smile as sweat started to drip from Meausette’s face.
When the taping was finished, the vice-principal looked like he was wearing a suite of armour, but still braced himself – as much as he could – as the chair he was standing on was about to be pulled out from under his feet.
Meausette stuck to wall, much to the excitement of the students.
“It was getting a little tight near the end,” he said of the suite, adding that in his mind he was definitely panicking a bit but thinking about the cause got him through it. Getting him off the wall, however, was another story.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com