Things got awfully hairy at the Upper Campus during the month of November.
Thanks to the ingenuity of senior Connor Floyd, students and faculty at the high school participated in “No Shave November,” a national campaign aimed at raising money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.
Fourteen students and teachers at the high school raised $350 by participating in the event.
“I feel that this was a good turn out for such a small school,” Connor said.” I hope that No Shave November will continue to happen at OVS.”
Connor initially came up with the idea last year, when members of his club baseball team, the Santa Paula Halos, decided to take part in the fundraiser.
He thought then about involving OVS in the No-Shave campaign, but it was too late to do so. He thought about participating himself, but was not allowed to because the school does not allow students to grow facial hair.
Since that time, Connor has been planning for an entire year, ever so patiently awaiting the arrival of November.
Now November is here.
Anyone at OVS who wants to participate will be allowed to grow facial hair as long as they sign up and donate $25 to the cause. Connor will collect the money and deliver it to the American Cancer Society.
“It is important to make people aware of [the fight against cancer],” Connor said. “We don’t want to forget about other peoples’ struggles.”
Connor said Head of School Carl Cooper was a bit skeptical about the idea when approached this year. But Mr. Cooper signed off on the campaign, as long as the Student Council supported it (student council members voted over the weekend to do so) and participants agreed to shave by November 19 so that they are clean-shaven for the joint campus Thanksgiving dinner.
Before the OVS campaign comes to an end, a competition will be help to see which student can best mimic the Casey Brough beard, the Craig Floyd moustache and the Carl Cooper goatee.
So far, students and teachers have been eager to sign up.
Fourteen people signed up to take part, including junior Cole Zellner.
“I chose to participate No-Shave November because I want to create awareness and help aid the fight against cancer,” Cole said.
This “No Shave November” challenge is not just a silly facial hair competition. It is a way for everyone to remember what is really important.
The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by having participants embrace their hair, which many cancer patients lose during bouts with radiation therapy.
Instead of spending money on grooming and shaving for the month, No-Shave participants are encouraged to spend their money educating people about cancer prevention.
It is not only the students who have accepted the challenge – the faculty has too. Thus far, English teacher Brad Weidlich, librarian Casey Brough, Athletic Director Craig Floyd, head boys’ dorm parent Drew Killeen, and history and journalism teacher Fred Alvarez have also agreed to ditch the razor.
When Mr. Alvarez learned about Connor’s No-Shave campaign, he immediately jumped on board.
Mr. Alvarez, who advises the Student Council and helps the students head up the school’s annual Relay for Life cancer awareness campaign, said he is excited to support any effort to raise awareness and money to put an end to cancer.
“I’m really pleased that the school is getting behind this effort,” Mr. Alvarez said. “This is the kind of leadership we should be showing.”