South Huntington's Silas Wood Principal Duct Taped To The Wall

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center principal Stephen Toto can get wrapped up making sure his students have fun while getting a great education, and he went to great lengths to prove it.

He volunteered to let his students duct tape him to the wall outside the school cafeteria to raise money for senior scholarships, according to the South Huntington School District.

It’s part of the South Huntington Council of PTAs’ annual effort to fundraise for scholarships for the district’s deserving graduates. Each year, the district’s seven schools battle for bragging rights to be the overall winner that raises the most money.

Jessica Brown is one of the teachers on the Silas Wood fundraising committee who came up with the duct taping idea.

"He's the principal, so we figured the students would love to tape the principal to the wall," Brown said in a news release. "He was on board right away. Mr. Toto is very competitive, and he knows that doing this will help us to raise money towards winning. So he's all about the competition."

Students and staff members donated $1 for each foot of tape ,and there was no limit on how much tape each person could buy. Toto promised to stay taped for the school’s three 45-minute lunch periods, for a total of almost two-and-a-half hours.

"I like to do funny and crazy stuff so I’m not going to say no, especially because it’s all for PTA scholarships," Toto said. "At the same time, it’s teaching the kids about teamwork, a sense of community, and a sense of family, which is what Silas is all about."

The wall outside the cafeteria was determined to get the most foot traffic from the more than 400 students who attend Silas Wood. As soon as the lunch periods started, students began lining up for their chance to be part of the fun event.

"He’s a good principal. He does a lot of good stuff for us," one student said.

Another student said he "brought in enough money for 20 feet of tape."

And there were plenty of laughs, giggles, and comments as students walked by the unusual human wall decoration in the hallway as they changed classes.

At the end of the final lunch period, teachers took away the crate Toto was standing on. Everyone applauded as the duct tape kept him snuggly on the wall for about seven seconds until one side let go and he slid down. Then, it was time to remove all that sticky adhesive that didn’t easily want to let go. Despite that, Toto said he had "no regrets." When teachers counted up the donations, the event had raised $535.

On top of that triumph, Silas Wood 6th Grade Center went on to win the big contest on Friday, March 7: the South Huntington Council of PTAs’ Lip Sing for Scholarships. Teachers and principals from each of the district’s seven schools perform fully choreographed and costumed lip sync numbers vying for the most votes. Each vote costs $1. But before then, each school tries to come up with ways to bring in more money, like this duct tape event, before the lip sync performance.

All the money raised goes to PTA scholarships awarded to deserving Walt Whitman seniors as they graduate this June.