Then Bell took out her shears. Janoe scrunched down a little at the first snip.
It was Monday afternoon, and Room A-3 was bustling with girl students, adults and salon stylists Jennifer Moore and Julie Swanton.
  
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“I like short hair!” she said. “It’s lighter, and fun.”
Janoe was one of about 14 Cunha students and teachers, and community members, who came by Room A-3 to donate their hair to Children with Hairloss.
Led by founder and CEO Regina Villemure after her niece successfully battled leukemia, this Michigan-based nonprofit offers hair replacement packages at no cost to children up to age 21 with medically related hair loss. It also accepts donations of at least eight-inch-long ponytails of clean, nontreated, healthy hair.
The Cunha drive was inspired by student Clayton Hagy, now being treated for leukemia, and organized by teacher Natalie Lindeberg “to donate hair and make it a community service project.”
Starting in May, organizers spread the word in the school and gathered permission slips from parents. One donor was sixth-grader Sarah Stretch who, inspired by a former teacher with breast cancer, came by to offer her hair.
She had cut it once before and saw potential: “I decided I wanted to grow it long, cut it and donate it.”
The students knew what peers without hair faced due to chemotherapy, accidents, burns, or alopecia.
“Adults don’t get made fun of,” said Janoe. “But kids, if they go to school and they’re bald, get made fun of. I think it’s mean to make fun of someone who is bald. You can’t help it if you get cancer.”
The salon was closed while stylists donated their time, said Bell.
“It’s beautiful hair and they’re donating it,” she said. “It’s part of them and they’re giving it to children who don’t have any hair. Of course we’ll give our time.”
Donors requested the style they wanted and the stylists followed it. Donors could come to the salon later for finishing touches.
Some, like Cunha social studies teacher Matt Rippberger, did not donate but came by to cheer on those who did. “They’re having so much fun, but it builds a nice sense of community, makes the teachers more approachable to the kids and the obvious, it’s a good cause,” he said. “Let’s be honest — I’m here because it’s fun.”
For some, short hair took getting used to. “I decided it was a good thing to do,” said sixth-grader Julie Sorfleet, “but it was odd, after I found out how short it was.”
Cunha special education teacher Jennifer Zamora asked that her long brown hair become “a fuzzball in back but long enough so I can tuck my bangs behind my ears,” and left with a sassy style she said her husband would love: “It’s so light. It never moves when I toss my head.”
Montara mother Silvia Valle, who works for the Sheriff’s Activities League, and her daughter Stephanie, a Half Moon Bay High School 10th grader, came in together. Both left with their formerly long locks bobbing at shoulder length.
The mother liked the idea. “You give something good and get a new haircut,” she said. But her daughter was wary. “I love my long hair, and it’s hard that I cut it, but I’m happy it helped out.”
“All the kids feel that,” said her mother, watching students compare their new ‘dos and help themselves to pizza. “Even though they’re not able to understand what (cancer patients) are going through — the pain, emotional and self-image, of losing hair — this is a little bit of helping someone.”
Even Lindeberg took her turn in the chair.
“I’m a little scared,” she confessed. But she was philosophical. “If short hair doesn’t work for me,” she said, “I can always grow it out. I’m ready!”
When the shining ponytails were laid in her hand, she gazed at them wistfully. Then she smiled. “I can feel the weight lifted,” she said. “I gotta earn my pizza!”
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