Stuck to the wall, three Ellis Middle School teachers didn’t have to sing for their supper.

Friday, March 31, 2000

Stuck to the wall, three Ellis Middle School teachers didn’t have to sing for their supper.

They had to sing for their freedom.

As part of the second annual Stick the Staff fund-raiser to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis, students donated money with a two-fold goal – one was to raise money for the most common genetic disease that afflicts about 30,000 – in addition to the chance to bind the three top moneygetters to the wall with duct tape.

Ellis student Kyle Miller has had Cystic Fibrosis since birth and has been diagnosed since 1992. The disease, which is caused by defective genes that cause a person’s lungs to produce excess mucus, ranks as the No. 1 genetic killer of children.

Various machines are used to help the person to breathe and rigorous activities are limited.

According to Ellis Middle School counselor Leah Michels, about $977 was donated over the course of the monthlong fund-raising efforts, which was sponsored by the school’s Student Council.

The idea to duct tape teachers to the wall came from an article about a Pennsylvania principal who was stuck to the wall in a similar fashion.

Students who donated money had the opportunity to choose which teachers they wanted to see on the wall. The top three teachers who stuck with their promise to be taped up were: Sylvia Steir, who raised $162.23; Luann Meyer, who raised $256.62, and Jodi Eich, who garnered $380.41.