We all know dads, uncles, or others who have participated in No-shave November, but it’s never been seen at Paoli High School. No-shave November is when you do not cut your hair or facial hair for November. This No-shave November raised over $500 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
No-shave November at PHS all started with SRO Jon Deaton.
“I just talked to some of the seniors and they mentioned doing a no-shave November. So I told them that I could do a no-shave on my head if they shaved their head after November,” said Deaton.
Deaton talked to seniors and got six boys to agree to this deal. The six seniors were Oscar Lewellyn, Hayden Bostock, Coy Busick, Jonny Shellenberger, Brian Fullington, and Odin Gehl. Seventh-grade Science Teacher Jeremy Reynolds, Jon Deaton, and Assistant Principal Adam Stroud also got their heads shaved.
The seniors and Deaton did not just want to do No-shave November for the fun of it, but to raise money for a good cause.
“So we agreed on that and thought we would do that as a fundraising for charity. And the seniors spoke about it, the senior class did, and they agreed on St. Jude and that’s kind of how it started,” said Deaton.
There was a table with buckets to put money in to vote for whose head you wanted to shave.
As all the participants were called up to get their heads shaved, Assistant Principal Adam Stroud said he would get his head shaved if the crowd raised $100. The crowd of staff and students raised $100, and Principal Ed Wagner also paid $5 to shave Stroud’s Hair.
Each participant had their head shaved by the person who put the most money in their jar.
Senior Cage Laws shaved Lewellyn’s head and earned the People’s Choice for the best haircut. Sophomore Dawson Guidry shaved Bostock’s head, and freshman Colton Scott shaved Busick’s head. Shellenberger’s head was shaved by his younger brother, freshman Emmett.
Fullington was shaved by his step-sister-in-law, Nurse’s Aide Whitney Eubank. Fullington then turned around to shave Gehl’s head. Deaton had his son, junior Jaxton Deaton, shave his head, and Reynolds was shaved by his sons, senior Jaxson and seventh grader Quinn. Principal Ed Wager took the honor of shaving Assistant Principal Adam Stroud.
“I wondered what I would look like with a buzz cut, and it was for a good cause, so I just went with it,” said Lewellyn. “I’m satisfied with my haircut and I think Cage did a really good job and he deserved the People’s Choice award.”
Students had various reasons for wishing to participate in the project.
“I did this because many of my friends were doing it, so I just did it with them. It was for a good cause so I didn’t care about having short hair,” said Busick.
There is also a possibility that this event will become a stapled tradition.
“Well, initially, it was just gonna be a one-year thing, but I’ve had interest from some of the junior class members that said that they would be willing to participate next year. So we may do this every year to see if we could continue to raise money for different types of children’s charities,” said Deaton.