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Head's close shave rakes in the money
A BRAVE headteacher had his beard shaved in front of 1,000 heckling pupils to raise money to help African children.
Bill Jordon, headteacher of Dyke House Secondary School, took to the stage to get his beard and trademark moustache that he has had for 30 years clipped.
Staff and pupils were more than happy to put their hands in their pockets to sponsor Mr Jordon to raise money for two teachers to travel to Ghana in the summer to teach English to youngsters.
Mr Jordon said: "I said if you get 2,000 from the kids and staff I will shave my beard. They have managed 2,000.
"Then I said 'I want to see it', so they brought it and piled it up on my desk."
Before he switched on the shaver, he told the children: "For once you will see me in pain, rather than putting you in pain."
Year 7 pupil Kieran Brown, 11, said: "He needed a shave. It was about time."
Year 11 head girl, Kim Burmiston, 15, said: "He looks slightly younger"
Head boy, Jonathan Coates, 16, said he thought it was "courageous", while Year 8 pupil Kieran Smith, 12, said it was "fun and for a really good cause".
Afterwards, Mr Jordon said: "It feels very exposed."
The money raised will fund a four-week trip for English teacher Helen Dawson, and maths teacher Drew McMillan, to Ghana where they will teach impoverished African children.
Miss Dawson said: "It is somethingI have always wanted to do and I have never really travelled so I don't want to go on my own.
"I did not think Mr Jordon would do it because he has had that moustache for as long as I remember and I was a pupil here."
Mr McMillan said: "We are going to Ghana as part of a group. There's French, Americans, Canadians and Australians and we are all going to live in one accommodation block. It's not going to be a holiday believe me."
The trip was organised through a company called Cross Cultural Solutions and paid for through other fundraising activities in the school such as themed nights for staff and a sponsored silence.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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