On March 17, 2025, Latin I Student Alice Christensen ‘28 began shaving Latin Teacher Sean Sweany’s, head in the classroom during class. She felt nervous because she had never cut hair before. As she shaved his head, she realized she had no idea what she was doing. Seeing the anxiety in her teacher’s eyes made her grip the clippers a little tighter; she knew she could not afford to mess up his hair. 

Her classmates gathered around her, anticipating and wondering what haircut she would give Sweany. Having students around her giving her ideas was helpful and made her feel more comfortable. As she got the hang of it, she continued to shave. Once Sweany was almost bald, she returned the clippers to prevent her teacher from getting a worse haircut. 

“Every two minutes, someone is diagnosed with cancer,” Sweany said. “So, when I am nervous, I remind myself it is not that big of a deal because it is nothing compared to what those people have to go through.”

Sweany started fundraising and shaving his head for St. Baldrick’s at another school 15 years ago. When he joined LT, he continued this tradition with his Latin Class. This year, he was the only teacher to shave his head, although Math Teacher Alex Wojick has participated in past years alongside Sweany. 

Sweany’s fundraising goal this year was $800; however, with the support of family, friends, students, and co-workers, Sweany raised over $2,000. All of the money is going to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Sweany aims to raise awareness of childhood cancer at LT. Each year, he lets a student from the class who raises the most money shave his head as a motivational incentive. This year, Latin II fought a battle to beat the amount of money raised by Latin I; however, they fell short by $1, ultimately leading Christensen to be chosen to shave his head. 

“It is heartwarming to see students invested in helping raise money for a good cause,” Sweany said. 

Latin II student Kate Dillon ‘27 supported the fundraiser one day by giving Sweany money during class. Until Sweany introduced his fundraiser to her, she did not have a background in childhood cancer. She plans to continue raising money for childhood cancer research. 

“This inspires me to maybe do this one day, but in a different form,” Dillon said. “I would love to be able to help anyone who has cancer and try to find out more about it.”

Christensen finds it essential to raise awareness for cancer research because the government plans to cut some funding. She believes that if everyone can pitch in, we can help make a difference. From shaving Sweany’s head, she learned how easy it is to have fun and fundraise for a worthy cause. 

“I loved seeing how much money all of the classes were able to raise,” Christensen said. “It made me see how important it is for people to come together for things like this.” 

Sweany has no regrets about shaving his head and is grateful that he can help. He hopes this shows his students how fortunate they are and helps them learn how simple it is to support children with cancer.