Unless you are student or teacher at Woodlawn School, you probably didn’t see the amazing showing of care and support the school community gave April 9 to one of its own and to the entire community.

As part of a special Hats On Day, students and teachers were allowed to wear a hat to school for a day for a minimum donation of $1. The money went to the Foundation for Children with Cancer, but the day was held in honor of Emily Beamer, a student who would be in the sixth grade at Woodlawn this year but is currently battling cancer. Hats On symbolizes a show of support for cancer patients, who often lose their hair from their treatments.

While the school had only raised $95 as of the morning of April 8, more than $1,794 had been collected by the time the assembly was held the next morning. Woodlawn teacher Adam Joyce had originally pledged to shave his head during the assembly if the school body could raise $600 or more. But as the donation total continued to rise, more and more teachers began to offer up their heads of hair. By the time the assembly was over, Woodlawn teachers William Sexton, Cory Hawks, and Bob Correll were all sporting new bald hair-dos as well.

Woodlawn students and staff wore hats ranging from trucker hats to sports team headgear to an oversized American flag hat to Joyce’s comical blonde women’s wig. Regardless of what they put on their head that day, it was an awesome show of support for a great cause and a brave little girl.