Hair today, gone tomorrow

Havre Daily News/Lindsay Brown

Amanda Hansen emotes fear while her head is shaved Thursday morning at Harlem Elementary School. Hansen and five other school staff members got their heads shaved to raise money for student, Seth Ironchild, who is currently being treated for cancer.

About three weeks ago, Harlem Elementary School principal Shiloh Seymour and teacher Mandy Hansen hatched an idea to raise $1,000 for Hansen's kindergarten student, Seth Ironchild, who was suffering from a brain tumor.

They would agree to have their heads shaved at a school assembly if the students could raise $1,000 to help Seth and his family during the crisis.

Harlem and the Hi-Line responded far more than the teachers had hoped for.

As of Thursday, more than $8,000 had been raised.

True to their word, Hansen and Seymour, joined by a host of other Harlem school staffers, sat on chairs in front of the student body and got their hair shaved by a group of volunteers. Students, who have been distraught by Seth's illness, had a moment of laughter, as they cheered their teachers on.

The hair will be donated to Locks of Love, a group that makes wigs for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. And this morning, Hansen and Seymour are at a Spokane hospital, giving Seth and his family a check.

Along the way, they stopped in Chinook and Big Sandy to pick up money students at those schools have collected.

More fund-raising events are being planned, and people can still drop off donations at the school.

Friends and relatives of the now hairless people will have some adjusting to do.

"We've been together for 30 years," said Paul Hansen, Mandy's husband. "She always had lots of hair. Now ... .

"I'm proud of her," he said. "I'm really proud of her."

If you want to make a contribution to help Seth Ironchild:

Harlem Elementary School

110 3rd Ave. SW

Harlem, MT 59526