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    This Site Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH (From the last 12 hours) (From the last 12 hours) CLICK PLAY TO HEAR STORY! Questions/Answers Questions and answers on Daily Bulletin stories from readers like you. More News Font Resize Glen Avon students earn right to shave teachers' heads By Liset Marquez, Staff Writer Article Created: 09/18/2008 09:58:34 PM PDT GLEN AVON - Leslee Brandom grimaced as students ran hair clippers up the back of her head. Each time they did so, more of her blond locks fell to the floor. Brandom - a fifth-grade teacher at Glen Avon Elementary School - was among 10 teachers, staff members and the school's principal who agreed to shave off their hair if students raised the school's Academic Performance Index score to 700. API is a measurement of academic performance and progress of California schools. API scores range from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. "I needed something to motivate the kids," Principal Dave Doubravsky said. Doubravsky posed the challenge to teachers and staff during a meeting in February. Several expressed interest, including Brandom. Doubravsky then went class to class to inform students about the challenge. The API scores were released earlier this month, and the students went beyond the goal by 9 points. "It makes me feel very proud of them," Doubravsky said. The school had only increased its scores by 2 or 3 points in previous years, Brandom said. Clad in large black trash bags that served as ponchos, the teachers and staff took their seats and sat back as students started cutting. Joining Brandom in getting their heads shaved were custodian Andrew Ayala, fourth-grade teacher David Moehlman, fifth-grade teacher Anthony Gomez and sixth-grade teachers Steve Kong and John Taylor. Prior to the buzz cutting, Ayala said he was nervous, as it was the first time he went bald. "I'm doing this for the kids," he said. "They deserve it. They did great. I'm new, and so it's a way to get to know the kids." Fourth-grade teacher Steve Martinez, who now teaches at another school, returned for the event. Annika White, multigrade teacher, and fourth-grade teacher Sherry Mata gave them a trim. "I just wanted them to know that I'm here for (them)," Brandom said about the students. "If they're going to do it for me, then I'm going to do it for them." Students laughed and shouted as they watched hair fall to the ground. After nearly 40 minutes and several students taking a shot at buzzing off Doubravsky's hair, he stood up and rubbed his newly bald head, shaking off pieces of his cut hair. He then grabbed clippers and shaved his goatee. While most of the teachers had cut their hair, Brandom still had students working on her hair. Savanha Moore, 9, was one of the students who helped. "I thought she was going to look scary because she was going to not have any hair," Savanha said. Standing next to students after the cut, Brandom didn't get a great reception when she broke the news to her husband and two children, she said. "The kids were horrified and shocked," she said. "They said, `You're going to look like Britney Spears."' Despite their hesitations, Brandom said she had no reservations about going through with the buzz style. "It's a bucket-list item that I've always wanted to do. I'm able to fulfill a fantasy," she said. With the success, Doubravsky is at a loss for next year. "I don't know what to do the next year to top this," he said. (909) 483-8556. Font Resize Photos from the IVDB   Photos from readers Ask your own question >> | | | | | For more local Southern California News: Copyright ©2008 Los Angeles Newspaper group