PHOTOS BY MATT NAGLE

It was a real family affair when Surprise Lake Middle School teacher John Garrett had all his hair and beard shaved off by his wife, Jo Ann, a breast cancer survivor. Garrett’s mom, Ginny, stood holding the couple’s eight-month-old babies Sasha and Stian. One of Garrett’s students, Jadon Miles came to school that day with his shaved, too, in a show of solidarity with the Garretts and everyone in Fife School District whose lives have been touched by cancer.

His wife battling cancer, teacher shaves his head in solidarity

By Matt Nagle

When the sixth and seventh graders at Surprise Lake Middle School (SLMS) set out to gather money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation as an end-of-the-school-year fundraiser this month, their teacher, John Garrett, said he would shave his head when the students reached the $200 goal. All that the students had to do was pay $1 to wear pajamas or a hat to school for a day, or $2 to wear both. However, they ended up raising three times the goal amount – $609 to be exact – by giving much more than was required of them.

Garrett said he was “blown away” by the students’ generosity, as it was known throughout the school that his wife, Jo Ann, was diagnosed with breast cancer just this past January. In fact, numerous Fife School District personnel have battled cancer in various forms, or are in the midst of doing so, and Garrett wanted to support them all by sacrificing every hair on his head in front of the entire SLMS student body at an  all-school assembly June 12.

As their teacher prepared to be shorn, the students filled the gymnasium with a roar of excited anticipation. Garrett said it was they who deserved the kudos, not himself, for their amazing fundraising success. “You all deserve the applause today,” he told them.

With clippers in hand and her headscarf off, Jo Ann Garrett went to work on her husband’s locks as his mom, Ginny Garrett, stood nearby with the couple’s eight-month-old twins Sasha and Stian in her arms.

Also standing nearby was sixth-grader Jadon Miles, who had come to school that day with his own head shaven of hair. “I know two people who went through cancer and survived,” he said. “My mom…and my friend Brad. He went through stomach cancer and survived.” Miles said shaving his head was his way of supporting his teacher and everyone in Fife School District whose lives have been touched by the silent killer. Garrett was grateful. “Jadon epitomizes the personality of this district and this school,” he said. “One of the things I love about this school and this district is you ask the kids for help and they’re there.”

As Jo Anne Garrett carefully took her husband’s hair, it created a moment of pure selflessness – of pure compassion – that could easily have brought tears to the eyes were it not for the student body’s loud, youthful enthusiasm keeping the atmosphere charged with excitement and joy. “Beard! Beard! Beard!” they chanted in unison, feet stomping the bleachers as Jo Anne Garrett took that off her husband, too.

Afterward, the couple embraced, and a healing power took over the gym, a sense that love can indeed conquer all. For Jo Anne Garrett, the future looks bright. “After the chemotherapy and hormone drugs that I’ll take for five years, it’s basically a 92 percent survival rate for the next 15 years,” she said.

Story Tools