Lincoln principal gets taped to wall

WASHINGTON — The Lincoln Elementary School principal had her back to the wall Friday, and she could not move.

It was all for a good cause.

Teresa Beenblossom let students tape her to a wall in a school hallway, a reward for raising $12,690 for the American Heart Association, the 11th highest total in Iowa this year.

Actually the reward was going to be getting the principal and teachers in a dunk tank, but safety concerns over COVID-19 nixed that idea.

For 90 minutes Friday, students one by one filed down the hallway, each adding two-foot strips of duct tape to bind the principal to the wall.

Beenblossom stood on a stool while getting taped up. After all of the classes had filed past, third-grader Ever Anderson got the honor of pulling the stool from under the principal, leaving her stuck to the wall with nothing holding her but the duct tape.

Anderson raised the most money in the fundraiser, more than $500.

Beenblossom had one rule. She did not want her hands taped down.

“I have to have my fingers free, or I’ll just freak out,” she said.

PE teacher Ross Anderson organized the fundraiser at the school, a tradition since 2000. This year’s collection was the second best for the school. One year students raised $14,000.

“This is the second most we’ve got,” he said.

They far exceeded the goal of $8,500, hence the reward.

Actually this was just the beginning. Friday students who raised $150 or more will get to throw a pie in the faces of teachers and administrators.

Beenblossom has experience being taped to a wall. Nine years ago she did a similar stunt to reward students for accomplishing a goal.

This time she had two other administrators — behavioral interventionist Beth Dehouges and instructional coach Tessa Steinhart — helping. They guided students so the tape held the principal to the wall snugly.

Oh, and occasionally one of them would have to scratch an itch for their boss.

Not all of the students were excited about putting tape on Beenblossom.

Third-grader Sophia Lujan stuck her piece of tape on the principal, looked up and said, “I’m sorry.”

Many of the students were hesitant about adding their tape, expressing concern for the principal’s safety and comfort.

The most asked question by students: “Are you OK?”

The most asked question by teachers and staff: “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”