Shave for the Brave News

Cowan Heights Elementary is Shaving for the first time

Posted on Feb 25, 2011

Lorna Walters participated in three consecutive Shaves when she worked at Holy Cross Elementary. She is now the Assistant Principal at Cowan Heights Elementary and is bringing the Shave for the Brave to a whole new bunch of students.

Ms. Walters has a personal connection with cancer; she has lost two special people to the disease—her father and a former student.

“[The student] was in grade four at the time, he was diagnosed in October so he was out of school for the rest of that year. I used to visit him and his mom at the hospital and it was just horrific to watch what that little boy went through. [He was] an amazing little boy, no doubt. He was very brave.”

“That’s where I initially met Geoff Eaton, at the hospital, and I remember saying to [him] one day, how brave he was, or what a hero he was to go in and visit these sick children. He said, ‘look, I’m not the hero,’ and he pointed to this little boy, Philip, and he said, ‘he’s the real hero.’”

Philip’s cancer went in remission that May but he was rediagnosed almost exactly one year after his first diagnosis. He didn’t make it through his second battle.

“It’s more in his memory that this means so much to me because I saw him as such an amazing, brave little boy. We can help others through raising funds and supporting them and supporting their families,” she said.

Ms. Walters saw a really big need for support for families when she was visiting Philip and recognizes how Young Adult Cancer Canada does that through programs designed to build a community of young adults diagnosed with cancer that provides information, support, skills, and opportunity.  Supporting the Shave for the Brave helps Young Adult Cancer Canada help more people through their journeys.

She also sees the Shave as a terrific way to get younger children interested in helping others. 

“It’s very important that we get students involved in giving back. Students are given so much, there’s so much done for them by parents, teachers, everybody, so it’s important that they learn at a very young age to give back to their community and that’s more now in Social Studies programs than ever before,” she said.

“Sometimes [they want to get involved] because their friends are Shaving, but if we do our work when we’re having the Shave and we teach them and give them the information that by you doing this, you will be providing support and programs for people with cancer and their families, then they understand.”

The school was initially going to try hosting their inaugural Shave with only the students in grades five and six but after younger students indicated they wanted to get involved, they opened it up to the whole school.

“Little grade threes wrote a note, a petition, and said they wanted to get involved too. They didn’t think it was fair to limit it to just the fives and sixes. So, of course, we certainly considered that.”

If her previous experience is any indication, this will be the first of many successful Shaves at Cowan Heights Elementary.

“After we did it at Holy Cross the very first year, the next year people were coming saying, ‘Miss, are we doing the Shave?’ and then the third year, it started right from the first day the kids came back in September.”

Thank you, and good luck, to the staff and students at Cowan Heights Elementary!

Cowan Heights Elementary will be holding their first Shave on March 18 at 10:30 a.m.