In years past, Cathedral Prep students have looked forward to the annual beard week, usually sponsored by student government. This year is different, however, as this highly coveted week, has been transformed into an entire month. This change was brought upon by new principal, Mr. Smith, in an effort to show how pleased he has been by the behavior of students. In addition to the convenience of not having to shave, half of each student’s $15 payment will go directly into the Ian Fund to continue to aid Ian Malesiewski through his recovery. The money goes towards a great cause and is an excellent way to end the first quarter.
Despite the overwhelming positive news that this brings, there is one slight exception; if a student is asked to represent the school publicly in any way, they must shave. This is obviously a fair rule but a bummer to many. People are excited about the upcoming month and can’t wait to see the different facial hair. “It’s always fun seeing people look different and noticing how a little bit of facial hair can change their whole appearance” said junior Alec Thomas.
Through all of the excitement, there are still some that aren’t thrilled with the annual beard week, let alone beard month. Cathedral Prep admissions director Tim Dougherty shared his thoughts. “I personally do not like the idea of having a beard month because parents are sending their sons to this school to be clean shaven and adhere to the guidelines of our dress code to give them an idea of expectations of future employers.”
This is also an understandable critique as this is almost 10 percent of the entire school year. That is a large amount of time out of the year not to abide by a major school policy that differentiates this school from many others.
All in all, the hallways of Cathedral Prep are still flowing with books, smiles… and now beards. Many are all for it while others are still putting it into question. Nevertheless, it is getting a lot of attention through the school and it should be one more exciting month inside the doors of Cathedral Prep.