Every year at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS), the students involved in National Honor Society (NHS) select a charity to support. They conduct a fundraiser and then make a large donation at the end of the year.
Last year, NHS raised $3,000 and donated it to Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. Continuing with the efforts to raise money, this year, NHS decided it would be a good idea to donate to that cause again. One of the fundraisers that they have been doing for nine years is “No Shave November.”
The way that this fundraiser works is a group of male teachers from the high school are asked to participate. Once they have a decent amount of teachers, there are jars put out on a table that have the names of the teachers on each one. Students, staff, and even alumni can come and put money into a specific teachers jar or in the overall donations basket. For every $2.00 that is put into the teachers jar, they cannot shave for one day.
There was a little change in plans this year though. One staff member at OHCHS, Jeff Norton, was willing to shave off his beard, that is had had for 32 years, if NHS raised over $600.00.
Although this option for Norton to shave his beard had been proposed to him before, the amount of money was never raised.
But this year, NHS raised over that goal of $600.00 and Norton had to get rid of the beard.
“It gave everyone a little incentive,” stated Norton. “It’s just hair, it'll grow back. My wife wasn’t a big fan, that’s safe to say.”
Even though the big goal for the students was to get that beard off of Norton’s face, the money wasn’t just raised by him. Many other teachers helped raise the money for Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.
“It wasn’t just me who raised the money, other teachers earned the money too. And little to say, they went a little crazy with the donations to shave my beard though,” said Norton.
In spite of the fact that Norton is now beardless, he and the other teachers know that they did a good thing for Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and plan to continue this fundraiser again next year.
 |
| Photo by Kristi Bancroft |
 |
| BEARDLESS - Mr. Norton grins after shaving his beard for No Shave November, a fundraiser to support Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. A GOOD CAUSE - OHCHS teacher Jeff Norton sports a full-grown beard he hasn't shaved in more than three decades. That all ended after he agreed to part with his facial hair if students were able to raise a certain amount of money during a recent fundraiser. The students won. |
