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Why students shaved Naperville school administrator's head

Crone Middle School Assistant Principal Joseph Sweeney put his hair into the hands of three students Monday, as he allowed them to shave his head for charity.

Sweeney is one of 12 charity runners associated with the south Naperville school who are competing in the Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon next month to raise money for the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation.

“It's an effort to raise total money for IPEF to help support our teachers, get grants and anything else they might need for their classroom,” said Sweeney, who is running the 13.2-mile half marathon race along with his wife.

Charity runners for the educational foundation's team, which at 253 members is the largest among the 13 nonprofit groups participating in the marathon, must raise at least $250. So to help reach his total, Sweeney collected $1 donations from students and hosted a raffle.

He chose one sixth-grader, one seventh-grader and one eighth-grader to take a turn at making him (practically) bald, each shaving one-third of his head with an electric razor. Sixth-grader Caleb Rodebough got to finish off the job during his lunch period Monday.

Sweeney's fundraiser comes about six weeks before the fourth annual race, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 23.

Charity runners in the race have raised more than $750,000 in three years, with the educational foundation's teams bringing in the largest totals the past two years. In 2014, Team IPEF raised $32,000 with 31 runners and in 2015, the group raised $88,500 with 108 participants.

  Students cheer Crone Middle School sixth-grader Caleb Rodebough as he shears the remaining locks from the head of Assistant Principal Joseph Sweeney, part of a charitable effort to raise money for the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation in the Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
Crone Middle School Assistant Principal Joseph Sweeney - before Monday's head-shaving. Courtesy of Indian Prairie Unit District 204
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