First-graders make change to dye for

Nine days into a two-week fund raiser, Mary Ann Lewis realized her school wasn't going to meet the goal set for donating to the American Heart Association this year.

So Lewis, a first-grade teacher at Blanchard Elementary, took a drastic step. She penned a letter to parents promising that if the students brought in $2,500 in change, she and principal Dr. Barbara Kohlfeld would dye their hair red.

Lewis and Kohlfeld followed through on the promise Wednesday, with a little help from a can of spray hair dye. Their new look was just in time for the annual students vs. teachers basketball game.

"I've never wanted to wash my hair so badly in my life," Kohlfeld said. "The kids say I look like I have roses in my hair, but it feels like concrete."

Lewis' first-graders raised the most money of any class in the school, earning them the honor of taking on the Blanchard Sweethearts teachers team in a game of half-court basketball.

The game, held in the gymnasium at Blanchard, was complete with cheerleaders and rows of cheering students.

"It was a lot of fun out there," said 7-year-old Andrew Mehner, a student in Lewis' class who scored two of his team's five points. "But I wish we'd won."

The game ended in 5-5 tie, just as it does every year.

"This is about having fun with teachers and healthy competition," Lewis said. "The whole thing is about caring, and that's what we're all about at Blanchard."

Schoolwide, students donated fistfuls of change to the fund raiser, trying to top the $2,100 raised last year. The hair dye was incentive enough for Lewis' class to bring in around $400.

"We did it to save people," said 7-year-old Sarah Elfrink, a student in Lewis' class who served as a cheerleader during the basketball game. "But Mrs. Lewis' hair is really cool."

cclark@semissourian.com

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