Students have walked by and questioned what has happened to English teacher Brent Bockelman’s face this past month of November. His wife feels the same way and is ready for the month to end, because it means Bockelman’s beard will be gone.

Starting Nov. 1, 10 teachers at SHS pledged to grow their beards and participate in No-Shave November, meaning they could not do so much as trim or clean up their beards for the following 30 days. It wasn’t all about the looks, though. The teachers raised money for Riley Children’s Hospital through Riley Dance Marathon at SHS, online and with money buckets during the school day.

“I hope this is a stepping stone towards (RDM’s) goal,” Bockelman said.

Social studies teacher Brian Dugger thinks that Riley is a great organization to raise money for. He says he grew his beard solely for the children. He feels his experience has been an entertaining one, as he has told students he would not start class until money was put in his bucket.

“It’s all for the kids,” Dugger said.

Dugger has raised around $550, and is runner up to English teacher Mike Klopfenstein, who has raised around $860. All together, the participants raised over $2,200.

Bockelman feels that through the donations he received, though his total of $150 was lower than he wanted, he has made an impact by just raising awareness about the work done at Riley within his community of friends and family. He says he has made an impact through telling people about the organization and this certain fundraiser, and contributing to RDM’s goal this year.

Math teacher Ethan Coffman also participated in No-Shave November. He says that when RDM Sponsor Jorie Depalma asked him to do it, he was all in. Helping those children who cannot help themselves made not shaving more meaningful, according to Coffman.

“To actually help your community and do something that really is more than just talking the talk… that was cool,” Coffman said.

Coffman’s experience with No-Shave November was entertaining, but in a different way than Dugger’s. He says his mustache grew so long that he got yogurt stuck in it, and his students had to awkwardly explain to him that he needed to clean up. Coffman and fellow participant math teacher Jack Williams would compete in the hall and shake their buckets of money to see which teacher students would pick.

“It became really cool really quick,” Coffman said.