Oxford Elementary Principal Jeff Brown had his head shaved in front of the entire school on Thursday in support of teacher Jaime Bartlo, who is undergoing cancer treatment. Brown agreed to have his head shaved after the students raised more than $1,500 to donate to Humble Design in Pontiac. Photo by Jim Newell

OES staff have their heads shaved for fundraiser

By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
OXFORD – Chants of “Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown”, “Mr. Ryan, Mr. Ryan” and “Mrs. Shafer, Mrs. Shafer” echoed through the Oxford Elementary cafeteria on Thursday, but none were so loud as “We love Mrs. Bartlo!”
The entire school – students, staff, friends and family – came together during an assembly to watch as Principal Jeff Brown, media paraprofessional Shannon Shafer and school security guard Ryan Schnettler of the Fortis Group all had their heads shaved in support of third grade teacher Jaime Bartlo, who is on leave while undergoing treatment for cancer.
The school assembly – and the head-shavings – were also a reward for the students raising $1,548 for Humble Design Detroit, a Pontiac-based nonprofit that custom designs and fully furnishes home interiors for individuals, families and veterans emerging from homelessness.
“Unfortunately, as part of her treatment she has been losing her hair and so Mrs. Shafer threw out the idea of getting her hair cut in front of the whole school. Mr. Ryan and I said we would join in as well,” Brown said. “We asked Mrs. Bartlo what charity she would like us to donate to and she selected Humble Design, which is a group that we as school have been working with for a few years. We’ve even had the opportunity to send staff down to help with one of their design days. Mrs. Bartlo chose a charity that’s been very near and dear to us for a few years.”
When Bartlo let her Oxford Elementary colleagues and students know that she was diagnosed with cancer, and that after Christmas break she would not be returning to school for the remainder of the year, they wanted to do something to show their support while raising funds for a good cause.
For every dollar a student donated, they got to put their name in a raffle and, as their names were drawn. They got to wield the clippers and take off swaths of a staff member’s hair.
Courtney Morin, International Baccalaureate Coordinator at Oxford Early Learning Center, helped organize the event.
“Here at OE, we’re a family and so it impacted all of us a lot,” Morin said. “One of the pillars of being an International Baccalaureate school is action. So, we think about how we can take things that we learn along the way, and how can we move in such a way in the world around us to take action and make our world a better place. With all the love we have for Mrs. Bartlo – she’s so loved here, she’s a part of our family – we wanted to take action.”
Shafer donated her long locks to help make a wig for children who have lost their hair while undergoing cancer treatment. Taylor Holman, an Oxford resident who works at The Fringe Parlor in Lake Orion, helped the students with the clippers.
Schnettler said as soon as he heard of the plans he was in as well. “When I heard what (Jaime Bartlo) was going through I said, ‘This hair is coming off.’”
And it wasn’t just the staff who got in on shaving their heads: several students had their heads shaved prior to the assembly.
“We were trying to figure out a good motivation for kids to bring in money to donate. So, we came up with the idea of a dollar a ticket for the raffle random drawing. Our kids were fantastic, it seems like they had a blast. We had 10 kids who joined us along the way with shaving their heads this week. Most of the boys who did it were former students of Mrs. Bartlo,” Brown said.
Morin said the kids shaving their heads, the enthusiasm for the fundraiser and support for Bartlo all come with being a part of the OE family.
”When you become a part of the Oxford Elementary staff your part of a greater family. And Mrs. Bartlo is a tremendous teacher and an even better human. We love her and we’re with her all the way,” Morin said. “Mrs. Bartlo, if you didn’t hear it, you had all the kids, all the staff members, all the families that were here today chanting, ‘We love you Mrs. Bartlo.’”