NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – A New Braunfels teen is a finalist in a national duct tape competition after making a tuxedo out of the sticky stuff.
Kaleb Burch, who recently graduated from Davenport High School in San Antonio, made it to the final five in the 2022 Stuck at Prom scholarship contest hosted by Duck brand duct tape.
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“I wanted to go for something that would look nice but also give off a good message,” Kaleb said of his design.
The tuxedo he made took 10 rolls of duct tape and 30 hours to complete.
“The theme of his project represents that being different is ok. He said that sometimes being different in a cut-and-dry, black-and-white society makes one feel like they have a target on their back. Individuality is perfectly normal,” Kaleb’s mom Jennifer Dingler told KSAT.
The Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest will pay out a $10,000 scholarship to the winning finalist from each of two categories — dresses and tuxedos.
The eight runners-up will each get a $500 cash scholarship and $100 worth of Duck brand tape.
Since the contest started, nearly 8,000 students have competed and more than 100,000 rolls of Duck tape have been used to create Stuck at Prom designs.
“It was kind of a long shot entering the contest because it’s open to the whole U.S.,” said Dingler. But Kaleb “threw caution to the wind and figured he was pretty creative. He just had to create a wearable garment with a snazzy design.”
Final voting will take place until July 13 and the final winners will be announced on July 20. You can vote once every 24 hours.
Kaleb will be attending the University of Texas in Tyler starting in July.
He’s not the only local student in the finals. Memorial High School graduate, Nathan Elias, is also hoping for a win. You can read about his groovy tux design here.