Manitou Springs High School students were briefly subject to a form of mild torture the morning of February 19th, as Student Council members filled the halls with the musical stylings of Justin Bieber to incentivize students to donate to a charitable cause.

In a scheme masterminded by Student Body Vice President Leland Spangler and inspired by fellow State Student Council members from Discovery Canyon, StuCo threatened to play the artist’s 2010 hit “Baby” over the school intercom during passing periods and lunch, only stopping once $600 had been raised for the Colorado Make-A-Wish Foundation fund to send 3-year-old Kailee to the beach.

Kailee suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a terminal illness which causes seizures and hindered communication facilities. According to Mahalia Henschel, chair of the school’s Make-A-Wish program, “Baby” was chosen because it and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” are Kaylee’s favorite songs, and StuCo was unable to find a suitably bad version of the latter.

The fundraiser runs through next Friday, February 27th, the goal being to raise $2000. The $600 goal was met in just over 3 hours, with about $540 having been raised by the end of 2nd block.

The $2000 goal is twice that of last year’s fundraiser, the goal of which was to send a boy by the name of Tevin Diaz  to Disneyland. The average Make-A-Wish wish costs around $7000, according to Henschel.

Once the $2000 has been raised, Principal Glenn Hard has agreed to combine advisory and lunch to give students an hour-long lunch for a day.

Students can still donate to Make-A-Wish via donation jars in the front office and Mrs. Stoneback’s room. Tomorrow, February 20th, there will be several special opportunities to donate, including a “Miracle Minute” during the assembly. During this, students can take revenge on Spangler by throwing money at him and president Carter Sandras.