SAN ANTONIO — Truth be told you can make anything out of duct tape and these two San Antonio area teens have proven it.
The two are one step closer to winning a college scholarship after they were chosen as top ten finalists in Duck® brand’s 22nd Annual Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest.
Nathan Elias of San Antonio and Kaleb Burch of New Braunfels both made tuxedos out of the sticky, adhesive tape. Judges selected the finalists based on their use of color, workmanship, originality, accessories and how Duck Tape was used in their designs.
“It takes creativity, curiosity and commitment to thrive in this contest and we saw that in all of the entries,” said Ashley Luke, senior product manager at Shurtape Technologies, LLC, the company that markets the Duck® brand. “These talented teens recognized an opportunity to turn prom into a chance to win college scholarships and they went for it! We are beyond impressed with their skills and style. We can’t wait to see who wins the Grand Prizes.”
Nathan tell us he plans on attending The University of the Incarnate Word in the fall to major in Fashion Merchandising and receiving this scholarship would be a huge help. He said his design took 35 hours to make and he used 20 rolls of Duck Tape.
"I owe my Inspiration to my childhood memories," said Nathan. "While growing up my mom and dad would play awesome songs like 'Heart Of Glass' by Blondie or 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA and also 'Boogie Wonderland' by Earth Wind & Fire. So it’s no surprise that while coming up with a concept for my tuxedo I wanted to pay homage to one of mine and my parents favorite decades, the 70s! The flashing lights, the bright colors, and of course the awesome music have always fascinated me. This garment comes with 44 alternating fringe pieces, leading down to 3 1/2 feet wide flared bottoms, and a groovy tuxedo fit for Tony Manero himself."
Kaleb Burch spent 30 hours creating his one-of-a-kind tuxedo, using 10 rolls of Duck tape. He said he was inspired by his mom to enter the contest. The final design features the crisp black and white checker-board pattern on the front with a colorful target highlighted on the back.
“I wanted to show that in a world that is often black and white, you can feel like a target is on your back if you are different,” explains Burch, who is attending the University of Texas at Tyler studying architecture.
You can check out the creative designs of the finalists in both the prom dress as well as the tuxedo category, and cast your vote to help determine the winner.
The two entrants, one dress and one tux, who receive the most votes will be named the Grand Prize winners and will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship. The eight runners up will each receive $500 scholarships and Duck® brand prize packs valued at $100.
Here are all the finalists in both categories:
2022 Stuck at Prom® Dress Finalists:
- Elise Villarreal (Mattawan, Michigan)
- 140 hours & 18 Duck Tape® rolls
- Grace Vaughn (Trinity, Florida)
- 143 hours & 45 Duck Tape® rolls
- Elizabeth Delli (Highland Park, Illinois)
- 27 hours & 16 Duck Tape® rolls
- Avalon Hagerman (Waterloo, Ontario)
- 157 hours & 25 Duck Tape® rolls
- Mady Bischoff (Temperance, Michigan)
- 60 hours & 30 Duck Tape® rolls
2022 Stuck at Prom® Tux Finalists:
- Nathan Elias (San Antonio, Texas)
- 35 hours & 20 Duck Tape® rolls
- Adrienne Flowers (Gulf Breeze, Florida)
- 81 hours & 50 Duck Tape® rolls
- Kaleb Burch (New Braunfels, Texas)
- 30 hours & 10 Duck Tape® rolls
- Chidinma Onwuliri (Mississauga, Ontario)
- 30 hours & 12 Duck Tape® rolls
- Colten Nichols (Van Buren, Arkansas)
- 95 hours & 48 Duck Tape® rolls
Voting is open until July 13.
CLICK HERE to vote for your favorite now.