STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The more Community School teacher Hannes Thum winced, the louder the students cheered.

And when his dark brown locks had settled to the floor around his feet, the Community School teacher patted his shorn head gingerly and offered a cautious but gentle smile.

“It didn’t really hurt, but it feels wild!” he said. “I’ve never had my hair so short. But it was for a good cause, a good way to show support.”

That good cause was Isabelle Phillips, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Community School who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare malignant bone tumor, in December.

Isabelle and her parents Matt and Calysta and younger brother Sebastian have been spending the past few months in Seattle where Isabelle has been undergoing treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

She has been fitted with a prosthetic femur and just underwent her third of five rounds of chemotherapy.

In Isabelle’s honor, staff and students at Community School, where Calysta is an Upper School French and Spanish teacher, and Wood River High School, where Matt is a science teacher, were challenged to “Brave the Shave.”

The event raised more than $6,500 on gofundme.com to be donated to the Phillips family, Seattle Children’s Hospital and/or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

At high noon eight male teachers lined up on the stage of the Community School Theatre in front of an auditorium full of students.

The stage was set—with balloons and a giant picture of Isabelle on the screen–for Hayley Hinojosa of Precision Haircuts at Ketchum’s Hayleywood Salon to transform their heads with her buzzing clippers.

The school’s elementary school head Janet Salvoni dialed Isabelle on her phone, letting the auditorium of youngsters shout their greetings before she let the sixth-grader watch the proceedings via FaceTime.

Head of School Ben Pettit took the first few brave steps toward the barber stool.

“I don’t have a lot to lose,” he said patting his crew cut before the shave. “I hope this will give Isabelle a little extra hope, a little extra encouragement—anything to help her in her journey.”

Middle School teacher Eric Covington took his spot in a lineup that included teachers Matt Barnes, Scott Runkel, Travis Vandenburgh, Sam Herrick and Patrick Graham.

His wife Dana Covington wanted to donate some of her blonde locks but changed her mind after her 5-year-old son started crying. Eric decided to go ahead with the haircut, anyway.

“I want my son to see we’re not attached to how we look. I want him to see that happiness is not predicated on how we look,” he said.

As they watched the proceedings, students began offering their hair for the cause.

Joel Hall was first.

“As student body president, I wanted to set an example, encourage others to donate,” he said.

Freshman Julia Ott and Nora Dowdle were next.

“I figured if this little girl can move to Seattle and go through chemotherapy, how hard can it be for me to get a haircut,” said Ott.

Hinojosa didn’t balk as the line for cuts grew longer, citing friends and family who have dealt with cancer as her inspiration for donating the cuts.

“My father was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer when I was 14 and a half and I remember driving him to Twin Falls on my new driver’s permit,” she said. “They gave him three months, he fought it for a year and a half and he ended up dying in an automobile accident three months after being declared cancer free.”

When the last lock had been shorn, Anneliese Turck estimated that more than 50 staff and students ranging in age from elementary school to high school had gotten cuts. In fact, there were so many lined up towards the end that Ben Pettit, Community School's Outdoor Program Director Patrick Graham and 8th Grade Teacher Travis Vandenburgh ended up helping Hayley with a few shavings.

Isabelle’s friend Berkeley Canfield watched proceedings with particular interest. She and Isabelle are close friends, having skied together on the Sun Valley Nordic team, on Bald Mountain and hanging out, playing tetherball.

“Isabelle always has a smile on her face, and she brings a smile to my face she’s so friendly and funny,” she said. “I hope she comes out on top. I know she will.”