Pep Fest a Sticky Situation for a Couple of STMA West Teachers

There was no reading, writing or arithmetic to teach Friday, Feb. 4 at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West.  Instead, the students and faculty filled the gym to culminate a fantastic winter week fundraiser with a tried and true pep fest.   Imagine the fun -- teachers competing against students all shaking their groove thing to Wii JUST DANCE 2, an aerial cheer team tossing girls 15 feet into the air, "Minute to Win it" games where bodies contorted to roll an Oreo from forehead to mouth with no hands, and a fashion show that would have wow’ed Madison Avenue as this haute couture was made entirely of DUCT TAPE! 

Speaking of duct tape – when was the last time your principal was duct taped to the gym bleachers?  And was happy about it?

The pepfest started with the students gleefully adhering chosen teachers and their principal – Andrew Merfeld – to the gym bleachers.  The willing participants stood on chairs as the kids canvassed the adults with gray duct tape.  The students even thoughtfully pulled Merfeld’s tie to the side.  Soon, the adults were fully covered, and with great fanfare, the chairs were pulled away. 

True to the phenomenon of duct tape – all the teachers remained suspended in air – quite literally stuck to the bleachers.  They would remain there till the end of the school day – most of them slowly and peacefully sinking to the floor. 

Merfeld did have to be cut down – apparently he was being choked.  (The school board frowns on choking administrators, so the pepfest coordinators did allow his last minute rescue.)

This event was the brain child of two talented, charismatic and devoted teachers:  Mrs. Rhonda Holland and Mrs. Kari Brett.  They did not just plan it – they jumped in and brought buckets of contagious energy and enthusiasm!

The highlight of the week were the PENNY WARS!  This was a fundraiser that pitted the four grades against each other in an effort to collect the most coins.  The students were encouraged to bring pennies to school – which they did – in droves. Each time a piece of “silver” (a higher value coin) was tossed in the mix, however, that grade lost a penny to the grade that put in a silver coin.  All week the coin count rose for each class, and the total amount for charity rose as well.  For every $50 raised, a staff member would “volunteer” to be taped to the wall!

The grand total raised for the week was $1,456.  After debating between a number of worthy charities, the students elected to donate to organizations that included The Pediatric Tumor Foundation and the Hanover Food Shelf.

Ms. Stephens led the STMA school competition cheer team in a rousing dance and pom-pon number.  The team recently tied for first place in the State Competitive Cheer Team competition at the middle school level. 

The audience saw new and creative ways to wear colored duct tape – the outfits were surprisingly impressive for being simply a collaboration of sticky plastic strips and creativity.