Cabin John Middle School students Evan Pappas, Harrison Bridge and Adam Firestone stopped to admire their half-finished product. They’d just shaved half the head of their physical education teacher Jeff Fritz, whose new image drew mixed reactions from the dozen students in the Cabin John’s television production studio.
“This is gross,” one said as Fritz brushed clumps of hair off his shoulder.
“This is nasty,” said another student.
Another girl felt otherwise. “Mr. Fritz, you have a nice mohawk right now,” she said. “You’d be a great rock star — you don’t even need talent.”
Like it or not, there was no turning back for Fritz. Before a schoolwide audience that watched the program, Fritz made good on his pledge to Cabin John students: Raise more than $8,000 during the annual “Hoops for Heart” community service project, and they could shave Fritz’s head clean on the Cabin John news program on Feb. 11.
A LITTLE INCENTIVE went a long way for the Cabin John students in the fourth year the school participated in Hoops for Heart, a national fund-raiser for the American Heart Association. The month-long project began on Jan. 4 when Olympic wrestler Buddy Lee came to school to discuss the importance of health and fitness with the students.
Students participated in a range of basketball-related activities, including 30-second lay-up contests and free-throw shooting marathons. Cabin John’s gym bore dozens of student posters demonstrating the importance of health — winners received gift certificates from Outback Steakhouse, Fortune Star Buffet, Ledo’s Pizza and TGI Friday’s.
Cabin John students raised nearly $10,000 in the following month, with the sixth-grade class raising $5,000. Noah King was the top student, raising $1,353 online, the second-highest total raised by any student participating in the nationwide program.
FRITZ NEVER EXPECTED to lose his hair. The school raised $6,300 in last year’s drive, so Fritz’s pledge seemed safe. “I think the kids thought it was a joke,” said Manette Tao, a phys ed teacher and leader of Hoops for Heart at Cabin John.
But Fritz had no regrets about his pledge.
“No, it’s for a good cause,” Fritz said, who was due to have the other half of his head shaved later on Friday, and wondered how his own children would react. “I just hope they recognize me,” he said.