Las Vegas principal cuts hair in support of teacher with cancer
By Amelia Pak-Harvey Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford, center, gets her hair cut by Kimberly Madrid, right, as Jessica Hopson, left, watches while holding her daughter, Willow, 3, at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford, center left, speaks alongside Jessica Hopson, holding her daughter, Willow, 3, at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford, left, speaks alongside Jessica Hopson, holding her daughter, Willow, 3, and husband Tim Hopson, holding their son Sawyer, at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Jessica Hopson, left, holding her daughter, Willow, 3, reacts after the hair of Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford, right, was cut at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Jessica Hopson, left, holding her daughter, Willow, 3, reacts after the hair of Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford was cut at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Jessica Hopson, left, holding her daughter, Willow, 3, reacts after the hair of Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Crawford, right, was cut at the school in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Crawford cut her hair as part of raising money to help Hopson, a teacher at the school who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Ronnow Elementary Principal Michelee Crawford and first-grade teacher Jessica Hopson struggled to hold back tears on Friday at the school’s harvest festival, just as Crawford chopped off 9 inches of her long, black hair.
The haircut was the latest show of solidarity for Hopson, who was diagnosed with breast cancer this school year.
Crawford started a GoFundMe page in September, promising that she would cut one inch of her hair for every $1,000 raised. Though the total was nearly $5,000 as of Friday afternoon, she chopped off more in order to be able to donate it to an organization that gives wigs to children with cancer.
Hopson has experienced an outpouring of support from what she calls her school family. Students — who frequently run up to hug her — have peppered her classroom door with sticky notes of support. Fellow teachers have shaved their heads. And on Tuesdays, those at the school, 1100 Lena St., wear purple shirts that read “Team Hopson.”
“Every day I just am embraced by positivity and strength,” she said. “And so when I find myself in my darkest moments, I can’t be more than an hour before someone’s reaching out, encouraging me.”
The GoFundMe is still accepting donations; if it reaches $20,000, Crawford may shave her whole head as initially promised.
