Not Quite the Impact We Hoped to Have on the Community

**This is an excerpt from our local school's newsletter.  Apparently, The Boy has stirred up  some excitement with his self-exploration through hair-styles...

 

UNIFORM AND HAIR STYLES: 

As I have said before on many occasions, how we present ourselves as a school is viewed very

closely by our local and wider community. Wearing our school uniform with pride and being neat and tidy in presentation sets a standard that we will be judged by in our society. We are not attempting to stifle individuality, yet it is important that as a school, we are meeting the

expectations of what is reasonable within the local community. There are plenty of opportunities for students to express their individuality with dress and hair styles such as on school holidays, weekends, free dress days etc. 

 

Therefore, I would like to outline a few important aspects of compliance which we expect as a

school in relation to how students present themselves: 

 

All students need to be in school uniform each day, unless they have a note explaining why they cannot be in uniform on that day.

Jewellery such as bracelets, necklaces, anklets, rings etc are not to be worn unless they are for medical or religious reasons. This is a safety issue.  Students are permitted to wear a watch.

Hairstyles need to be neat and tidy, with hair of shoulder length or longer, worn up in plaits or the like. 

Styles such as tracks in the hair, mohawks or obvious colouring is not in keeping with school

expectations unless it is a particular school event eg: Think Pink or Crazy Hair Day and these

styles/colours are only for that special event.

 

Whether you agree with these expectations or not, we do want to portray an image of a school that is proud of its image and what it stands for in the community.  Thank you for your continued support and compliance with our dress code.

 

Reprinted WITHOUT permission.

 

While we are disappointed that our school has decided to take this type of a stand, we are completely respectful that it is up to the school administration to set these guidelines.  We may agree, or we may disagree, but there is no doubt now that we have made an impact, as these guidelines will now be included in the school handbook.  Oops.

 

**Please note that I have purposefully tried not to identify the school here.  It's not about bashing that school at all... only about letting our friends and family know that while we are downunder, we are still stirring up trouble.   :o 

The Boy's Hair: Before and After

So - he did it! Not only did he shave his head (which is not all that new and exciting) but The Boy also donated his entire piggy bank to the school for cancer research! He was brought up to the front while they shaved heads to acknowledge his generosity. His teachers offered to let him shave someone's head, but he was to shy for that...

Here are some pics from the event:

BEFORE: The Boy WITH hair!

AFTER: The Boy WITHOUT hair - and with his soon to be donated piggy bank!

Gathered at the front with one of the teachers. The groundskeeper is in the background (wearing cap). His daughter is a hairdresser and donated her time to shave the heads... I think she did it just so she could shave her dad's head ;)

He's the littlest kid up there!

Too shy to use the razor himself... tee hee!

The event raised $4000 for Leukemia Research. We were so proud of our little dude's small contribution - from his BIG heart!

World's Biggest Shave - Inspired by my 7 year old

This was too long for Twitter, but too important to not share, so I am resurrecting the blog!


Tomorrow is Wacky Hair Day at the childrens' school. Wacky Hair Day is always a big event around our house. The kids love to colour their hair, paint it, tease it, put it in piggies and pony tails. Even The Boy with his short hair has gotten into the act, with patterns shaved into it, or mohawks. This year is no different. The Girl is geared up with elastics and clips. The Boy has the longest hair he has ever had - we spiked it today with gel and everything.


The Boy made a different decision this afternoon, though. We had been toying with the idea of cutting his puffy, spiky hair and returning to his typical short buzz cut. He's had the extra hair for a couple of months, and while he fit in with the local wildlife, it was getting a little unruly.


In the meantime, the school has presented the purpose of this Wacky Hair Day to the children. One of teachers and a few others are taking part in the World's Greatest Shave 2010 (www.worldsgreatestshave.com/about), a fundraiser to raise money for Leukemia research and services. The whole school has gotten involved. The kids are bringing in gold coins to shed their uniforms for the day and wear their own clothes and donations will be accepted in order to colour their hair as well. If the school reaches their goal of $4000(!), the teacher will shave his head. There are some older children having their hair shaved as well. All of this will go down at Friday's weekly parade (that would be assembly for you Canucks).


Well, The Boy has taken the message to heart - not only has he shaved his head tonight, but he has decided to donate the entire contents of his piggy bank to the cause. Cancer causes hit home in our family right now, as we have a close family member who has been going through a very serious battle with a not so good prognosis. When discussing the consequences of donating his life savings (ok, so only 7 months' worth, but it was just over $80), he was adamant that he wanted to help the kids with cancer who don't have hair and his Aunt back in Canada who was sick with Cancer. We explained that it was too late for his money to help his Aunt, but maybe another family could be helped by his donation.


What can a mom say? I am so proud that he has come up with this idea on his own, and a little bit surprised. He has been pretty proud of himself with his piggy bank, earning coins for chores around the house (or pulling teeth out!), using it to buy candy or trinkets when we go out. When I told him that this means he won't have any money left, he insists that that's ok, he'll just work hard to earn more!

These are the lessons we try to teach our kids - thank goodness that this one appears to be sticking!