JPII students get clipped for good cause

		Girls prepare hair that will be used to make wigs for cancer patients. (Tammy Botello, Blessed John Paul II High School)

Nervousness and excitement filled Blessed John Paul II High School's Fine Arts classroom on April 3 as students waited their turn for a haircut that benefited cancer awareness organizations. Students participated in the cancer awareness school project called, “A Cut Above”.

Sherri Davis, event sponsor, organized the event with Super Cuts volunteer stylist Roger Stutesman.

Sixteen girls and 12 boys raised $1,000, which will be donated to “Wigs for Kids.” The girls blessed “Beautiful Lengths by Pantene” with 200 inches of their locks for wig production for cancer patients.

Stutesman said he felt compelled to play a role in “A Cut Above” and recruited volunteer stylists after he witnessed his sister lose her hair while going through chemo twice. "You can't let it get you down," he said, after he revealed that he is also a cancer survivor.

Parents and siblings attended the event to show their support and witness the long awaited haircuts that some students put off for months. Sophomore, Maria Fernandez said her last haircut was in July 2013.

"You feel weird," Fernandez said of the hair cut. "It happened so fast and now no more weight on my head."