A lock on love
Published: May 17, 2005
Molly Peterson had her hair cut Monday for just the second time in her life.
The 8-year-old did not go to a salon. She had it trimmed in front of more than 400 of her friends and classmates.
Sitting in a plastic chair wearing a black smock, a huge smile creased her face as the stylist pulled her waist-length blonde hair into a ponytail and cut off 10 inches, leaving her with hair still down past her shoulders.
“I’m glad I did it,” she said. “People make wigs out of it.”
Peterson was one of 25 children, parents and teachers at Taylor Primary School who spent the entire school year growing their hair to donate to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization which provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who have longterm medical hair loss.
The chin-length bob became the new fashion statement at the school, worn by primary grade girls, some of their mothers and teachers.
Stylists from Great Clips for Hair and E-Clips provided the cuts.
The stylists handed each donor her pony tail, to be zipped into a plastic bag and tagged with the donor’s name. Bags of all shades of brown and blonde hair piled up on a cart, ready for teachers Erin Casper and Kristi Welsh to mail to Locks of Love’s Florida headquarters.
Students voted by applause for Welsh to be the first teacher to have her hair cut, with a roar coming from her third-graders in the back.
Student Maria Owens cut Welsh’s ponytail because the teacher’s daughter, Paige, refused to do the job. Paige, a first-grader, held her mother’s hand for support while Maria cut her hair.
After all donors’ ponytails were cut, the rest of the students returned to class and the donors returned to the chairs to have their new cuts shaped and styled.
Casper said they were suprised by how many people donated hair. She hopes students learn they don’t have to do something big to help other people.
“You don’t have to do much to grow hair out,” she said.
Molly Peterson’s mother, Bonny, also cut her hair for Locks of Love. She and Molly donated hair last year. They originally planned to donate again last fall, but decided to wait and be part of the school group.
She thinks her daughter will gain more than a new hairstyle from the experience.
“I just want her to think about other people and how lucky she is to be healthy. She was excited to do it. She’s been smiling ever since.”
Grace Bogue, 8, started growing her hair at the beginning of the school year in preparation for Monday. She said she’s never had her hair so short, but she was glad to give it.
“We’re going to give it to kids that are bald,” she said.
Her mother, Jennifer, thought it was the perfect opportunity for Grace to give.
“We try to teach her that giving to others is the right thing to do. Hair is just hair. It grows back.”
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