The boys and men of Northwood School have a distinctly scruffy look, as many of them have not shaved all month. It’s not mass civil disobedience in protest of the dress and grooming policies. November is “Movember” (a combination of “mustache” and “November”), which is also the name of the foundation whose goal is to raise awareness about a number of men’s health issues, including prostate cancer.
For the month of “Movember,” men grow their facial hair while donating money to support prostate and testicular cancer research, mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
Students at Northwood school celebrate “Movember” by breaking dress code and not shaving their facial hair.
“Movember” faculty advisor Andy Donatello said, “For me, ‘Movember’ is personal because I battled cancer about 20 years ago,” said Donatello. “I love to see how it has evolved from kids wanting to break the rules to supporting a cause by donating instead of shaving,” he said. “We picked the fight against prostate cancer. We have raised over $300 dollars already,” added Donatello.
“I think students understand growing a beard or mustache this month is bigger than just not shaving. This is the first year we organized a group to donate money to charity, so at the end of the month we will donate to the actual Movember website, www.movember.com,” said Donatello. “What I like the most is seeing students who are not shaved and instead of telling them to shave I tell them to join the cause and donate.”
Some say that Junior Tommy Bannister has been able to grow a beard since middle school. “I think Movember is a great cause,” said Bannister, “because we get to donate money for prostate cancer research. I like Movember at Northwood because it is the only month that we can grow out facial hair so we do a kind of friendly competition to see who grows the best beard.”
Check out The Mirror’s social media feeds in early December for pictures of beards and an update on total funds raised.
