Fear the beards: Friends and teachers at Pioneer Middle School join Mr. Brunt in No-Shave November and raise awareness for men’s health

BY RYAN MERARD

Every year, men all across the world participate in a month-long challenge called “No-Shave November.” At Pioneer Middle School, social studies teacher Michael Brunt has been taking part in No-Shave November for the past few years, but the experience this year may be different for him as he had recently lost his dad to prostate cancer in May.

No-Shave November was something that Brunt and his dad had been taking part in for the last five years. The point of No-Shave November is for men to grow out their beards and embrace their facial hair which cancer patients may lose while undergoing treatment. 

No-Shave November is also dedicated to raising awareness for patients of prostate cancer and those who may have died from it. With Brunt’s dad passing away, it seemed only right to partake in this challenge again. Some of Brunt’s friends and fellow coworkers such as language arts teacher Seth Nadler even joined him in this one-month journey of not shaving to show support for him and his family.

“No-Shave November has been something that men have been doing for the past several years to show their support for men who have suffered from prostate cancer and to raise awareness like we do for women by wearing pink for breast cancer,” Nadler said. “The plan is not to shave for the entire month of November.” 

Many men usually take part in this challenge annually for different reasons. Some do it to support patients who are struggling with cancer, while others also do it out of curiosity to see how they would look with an unusual amount of facial hair. 

“No-Shave November has been something that men have been doing for the past several years to show their support…”

Language arts teacher Seth Nadler

For staff at Pioneer Middle who routinely participate in No-Shave November like social studies teacher Justin Mahani, hearing about Mr. Brunt’s recent loss added a greater significance to this challenge, as well as an extra motive for them as they go through this one-month journey. 

“My beard grows unruly. I usually partake in No-Shave November every year just to see how far my beard can grow in 30 day[s] and it can be a lot,” Mahani said. “But once I saw that Mr. Brunt had posted about his fundraiser on Movember, that really pushed me to compete this year.”

In addition to not shaving, teachers also had the opportunity to show support for Mr. Brunt through donations to a men’s health charity. Brunt decided to raise funds through the charity “Movember” which specifically focuses on men’s health and prostate cancer.

“Mr. Brunt has been a close friend of mine for many years. I had met his dad many times over the years and he was an amazing person,” seventh grade social studies teacher Jason Goodstein said. “When Mr. Brunt set up this fundraiser to raise awareness for cancer, I wanted to be a part of that.”

The initial goal of Mr. Brunt’s fundraiser was $200 but the results exceeded expectations. However, with the generosity from his friends, family coworkers he was able to raise over $375 for the men’s health charity. 

“When Mr. Brunt set up this fundraiser to raise awareness for cancer, I wanted to be a part of that.”

Seventh grade social studies teacher Jason Goodstein

“I’m very happy about exceeding my goal. I purposely set it small because I don’t like to ask others for money and I more or less just wanted to raise awareness more than money,” Brunt said. “At this point,  I’m very happy to be doing both.”

Mr. Brunt is an active participant in No-Shave November, but with the recent loss of his dad, he made sure that he would make this month more meaningful than just growing out his facial hair. With heaps of support from friends and coworkers, Brunt was able to complete a major goal and impact men’s health in his own way.

“I was very happy that so many people jumped on. I’m going for just a mustache this year but by not shaving hopefully it acts as a talking point,” Brunt said. “When people ask ‘Hey, what’s up with that mustache or beard?’ it’s a way of saying that we should all be concerned about these men’s health issues—a good icebreaker so to speak when dealing with such a delicate subject. I’m very happy to not only raise awareness and money but also remember somebody who was very influential and special in my life.”

Photo courtesy of Sporcle Blog