Principal floats for school fundraiser

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Willis Elementary School Principal Bill Stenger spent his day May 16 dodging tennis balls.

Students at the school raised $41,818 during the school’s walk-a-thon fundraiser in October, earning them the prize of seeing their principal float on a lake for the day. Students beat their fundraising goal of $40,000.

“I’ve been on the roof. I’ve been in a hot air balloon. I’ve been duct-taped to the wall,” Stenger said of his rewards to students.

This year, Stenger constructed an 8-by-8-foot raft out of plywood and floated in the lake behind the school for the day. He also created two cannons, from which students launched tennis balls at him.

“They really liked this (idea),” Stenger said. “It was a challenge. In this case, they had to take their best guess and aim it.”

About 750 students took aim at Stenger during their recess time after their lunches. Staff members and parent volunteers also tested their aim. In total, the event used more than 900 used tennis balls, most of which were donated.

Stenger spent his pre-launch morning on the raft catching small fish.

“I knew some of the kids could see me from their classroom windows,” he said. “I threw in a fishing line just to see.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].