Round Lake school raises $1,200 for student with cancer
Three teachers and the assistant principal of John T. Magee Middle School in Round Lake had their heads shaved before the entire school Friday afternoon to raise money for Mayra Davila, a junior at Round Lake High School who is fighting stage 3 breast cancer.
The students were so eager to help Mayra and see their teachers shorn that in just over a week they raised more than $1,200.
Mayra's little sister Jenyfer Davila Munoz, a sixth-grader, was at the assembly to accept her classmates' donation in the form of a large piece of paper made to look like an oversized novelty check.
"We didn't even tell kids about the fundraiser until Monday, so it came together quickly," said Tim Jackson, the school's newly hairless assistant principal. "I'm glad we could do something to help."
Jackson came up with the idea for the event last week after hearing that Kristin Lilla, an English teacher and coach for volleyball and track, was considering shaving her head for the cause.
"I thought, 'If she can do it, I definitely can,'" Jackson said. "So I emailed the staff about it and three teachers jumped on right away."
Those three now-bald volunteers were Austin O'Connor, eighth-grade social studies teacher; Curt Rupert, seventh-grade math teacher; and Frank Ranalli, eighth-grade science teacher.
So badly did they want to see their teacher shaved that Ranalli's students raised more than $300.
The honor of wielding the clippers was determined by a raffle. Students at Magee Middle can earn points for doing good deeds throughout the day. This week the school let them spend the points they'd accumulated on raffles entries. Jackson said demand for raffle tickets was high.
"That was really exciting; the kids really got into it even more than I thought they would," Jackson said.
The head shaving was just one of several school organized fundraisers for Mayra. Last week the school raised more than $2,500 at a charity volleyball tournament that pitted Round Lake-area police officers against firefighters and Round Lake High students against their teachers.
On Oct. 18, the high school will host a fundraiser called Volley For The Cure, with raffles and a silent auction for high-value prizes donated by the community. Prizes include a 2016 World Series baseball signed by Joe Maddon, tickets to Bears, White Sox and Cubs games and gift cards to local businesses.
Mayra was diagnosed with cancer near the start of this school year and has been out of school this fall while receiving treatment, officials said.