"Mr. Witas, if we raise enough money to send Mrs. McLin to Germany, can we shave your head?"

"Why would you want to send your teacher to Germany?" I asked. "What could she have possibly done to you to make you want to send her to Germany?"

"We found out she has a sick relative there, and her whole family is going to reunite at her bedside and oh, please, please, PLEASE, if we raise the money, can we shave your head?

"No, but I suppose if you raise the money by Fall Festival, you could shave the hair on my head."

"Ha, ha, ha, Mr. Witas, very funny."

It wasn't but a few days after my conversation with my fourth- and fifth-graders that parents got wind of the challenge. It wasn't but a few days after that that money started to roll in.

At 8:45 p.m. during our Fall Festival in front of hundreds of cheering onlookers, my hair was shaved like Samson. Winter is a little colder for me this year, but rewarding a class full of 9- and 10-year-olds by helping them do an act of kindness for a beloved teacher is well worth the absence of hair—at least for a little while.

In the meantime, Marita McLin just spent the most wonderful time in Germany with her family.