Haines fifth through eighth grade students raised money for cancer research in November. The fifth grade class won the competition between the grades. Photo courtesy of Jordan Baumgartner.

With the desire to fundraise, and embarrass their teacher, Haines Middle School students raised more than $500 for cancer research and support group charities.

Middle school teacher Jordan Baumgartner helped the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students implement a “penny war” fundraising campaign and promised the top two classes would get to dictate how Baumgartner would groom his beard and hair for the day. The students collected spare change for a month and each class donated their collections to charities.

Seventh grader Marvis Price was one of several students who suggested his teacher shave his mustache and goatee into the Batman symbol. Luckily for the seventh-grade class, it came in second. Price said it was difficult to focus the day his teacher shaved. “It was a little bit hard to focus, because he had a bat on his face,” Price said. “I just thought it was an excellent hair choice.”

Sixth grader Ari’el Long said her class raised about $120 from spare change. She looked in her parent’s room for the loot. “My parents have this stash of coins that they saved up,” Long said. “Me and my sister went through that and divided it up.”

The fifth-grade class turned in $167 in coins, the most of any grade, and said they wanted Baumgartner to dress up like the cleaning supply company character Mr. Clean. Baumgartner shaved his head and wore a white t-shirt and jeans to class after shaving the bat off his face. Baumgartner matched the winning class’ donation to support the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

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