In November, six Atlantic sophomore boys shaved their heads to show their support for high-school teacher Stephanie Kelley. Kelley has been battling stage two triple-positive breast cancer. Before this highly visible show of support by students, Atlantic High School has raised money and awareness for the family in other ways.

Kelley said, “Especially as someone who has transplanted into the community, I can’t imagine a more encouraging and supportive group of people from all walks of life. I will never forget the outpouring of kindness from everyone. It has made me a more giving person to experience all of it.”

Throughout the month of October, fundraisers were held to donate towards the Kelley family. The Atlantic sports departments hosted these events. A home cross country meet was held on Oct. 10 when runners wore pink uniforms in support. Then, a volleyball game was held in October where players wore pink uniforms, and lastly, at a home football game players and cheerleaders wore pink socks and undershirts as support. At all these events ribbons and stickers were sold to raise money for the family.

Now a group of boys decided to show their support for Kelley in a non-monetary way.

This idea started when Kelley announced to her classes that she had started chemotherapy. When cancer patients are taking chemotherapy they tend to lose their hair which can either be slowly, in chunks, or even rapidly. Kelley decided to shave her head and now has an assortment of wigs that she wears to cover her head at school.

Sophomores Collin Harris, Roland Hinman, Brandon Wagner, Cooper Woosley, Dreven Smith, and Vincent Meisinger all partook in shaving their heads as a show of support for Kelley.  “It’s a pretty tough battle that I don’t think anyone should have to go through alone,” said Woosley.

Smith had the idea to advocate his support for Kelley and thought why not include others who care just as much. Harris said, “Dreven just texted a group chat of us asking if we would want to get buzz cuts for Mrs. Kelley after we found out she started chemo. We all agreed and just had to find a time to meet up, so after wrestling practice on Sunday we all went to Cooper’s. We just sat down and helped cut each other’s hair.”

All six boys took turns cutting each other’s hair. Showing up to school on Monday they had quite the response. All types of people have been touched by this show of support. Harris said, “After we showed up with the haircuts in support of Mrs. Kelley there have been people telling us that they are going to cut their hair too.”

Teachers also had a lot to say to these boys as they entered school that Monday morning. Wagner said, “Everyone was asking about the haircuts, and when we told them what it was for–Mrs. Kelley–they all really liked it, especially the teachers. Walking through the halls I would get stopped all the time by random teachers telling me they like what we are doing.”

Kelley’s own reaction may have been the best one yet. “It made me want to cry in a very good way. It’s actually been a lot of ‘fun’ to share this journey with all of them. They (all of my students) have made something that could have been very hard into something that we laugh about, talk about, and share as they ‘do life’ with me in the classroom,” she said.

Each person had a unique reason for wanting to help Kelley but they all boiled down to the fact that she deserves support. Harris said, “We want to show Mrs. Kelley that she is not alone and we are there for her for whatever she needs. She is such a good teacher to be around like she is always smiling.” Hinman added, “She is fighting her chemo battle and trying to teach us all while supporting us so we thought we could support her back.”

One boy in particular had a personal connection to the situation and found no better way of connecting with her than showing support. Wagner said,“I got the haircut because both my aunt and my grandma have breast cancer. So when Mrs Kelley lost her hair I thought shaving my hair would be the right thing to do.”

While the topic of cancer is usually a dense one Kelley and her students have found ways to make this lighter. Kelley said, “Cooper went out and bought a durag for me to wear for the day they came with shaved heads…definitely never worn one before…have to say, they’re actually quite comfortable and the boys had to tell me that there’s a specific way to wear them. You learn something new all the time.”

Kelley’s positive outlook with her students and peers has encouraged acts of kindness like this and made our school a better place. She finds humor and happiness in all places of life and leads others to do the same. This show of support from these sophomore boys has impacted their lives as well as others around them thanks to Kelley.

This story was originally published on AHSneedle on November 22, 2024.