City Times Staff

St. Stephen Elementary School Principal Gregg Hansel hangs from the wall of the school’s gymnasium under several layers of Duck tape on Feb. 2.

The stunt was a reward to students as part of a school-wide reading contest. Books were assigned a point value — the still-popular Harry Potter books held a value of 20-25 points, according to librarian Ann Zdroik — and once the school’s 86 students hit 6,000 points, they got the tape their principal to the wall.

“I don’t know; a couple of hours,” Hansel said, when asked how long he had to remain hanging on the wall.

Students on Thursday also wore their finest sports jerseys; a themed dress-up day as part of celebrating Catholic Schools Week, and held a school talent show.

This isn’t the first unique twist Hansel has put before his students. In recent years Hansel has also died his hair pink and slept on the school roof, all in the name of encouraging his students to read more.

Hansel also serves as the director of education for the Catholic school district.