Kenyon Woods students, staff go bald for cancer awareness

Twenty-nine students and five staff members at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin lost their hair Friday to support cancer awareness.

Those who sat under the clippers and had their heads shaved were taking part in the school's sixth annual fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Students and staff members had a goal to collect $10,000, and by the start of the event had raised $14,084. The money will be donated to the St. Baldrick's Foundation, an organization that supports childhood cancer research.

Tara O'Connor, 12, of South Elgin, who was one of four girls getting their heads shaved, participated in the event for the first time.

She said she mainly did it in honor of two of her grandparents who succumbed to cancer, but also for others who have passed from the disease.

“I just think I should help somehow,” she said, pausing to rub her bald head and smile, “so I shaved my head.” She said was shaking and nervous through the haircut, holding the hand of her father, Mike, and using her other hand to cover her mouth. But when she saw photos of herself afterward, she said she was happy.

“I'm very proud of her. We're all very proud of her. ... She's a very strong person who cares a lot about people,” Tara's mother, Nancy, said afterward.

The school has a website to track donations, which are still being accepted. Go to stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/2228/2015 to contribute.