In the news:
Miller, Dobie students cut locks of love

More than 55 intermediate school students, high school students, elementary-aged youngsters and even mothers all received shorter hairstyles recently courtesy of Dobie High School’s cosmetology students.

Their shorter styles might have been different, but their cause was the same—they cut their locks out of love.

The cutting frenzy was a part of the Miller Intermediate School Teen Leadership program and the Dobie Cosmetology Department’s sixth annual Locks of Love project.

“I was proud of my students for doing such a selfless act of kindness,” said Miller Intermediate teen leadership sponsor Rachael Manraj. “It’s a great project because they get to see the various areas of the community working together to make it all happen. It teaches them the act of giving without expecting anything in return.”

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides high quality hairpieces of financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Many recipients have lost their hair due to an auto-immune condition known as alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. Others have suffered severe burns, radiation treatment or any number of dermatological conditions resulting in long term or permanent hair loss.

For the last six years, the two schools have partnered to include the community in these efforts and have collected several hundred hair pieces for the cause.

“I hope my students realize how lucky they are to have hair and to be healthy,” Manraj said. “Their participation just shows how generous they can be. They are thoughtful and concerned about others.”

Donated hair must be 10 inches or longer to be used for a wig, and Miller Intermediate seventh grader Laura Sosa said she grew her hair out for over a year so she could participate in this year’s event.

“I decide to cut my hair because I wanted to give it to kids that need it because they can’t grow more due to their illness,” Sosa said. “It felt good because I have never done something like this or given others something of mine.”

Six to 10 ponytails make one wig, and the Locks of Love crew exceeded their average of 65 pieces this year.

“This is a good project for us to participate in because we are doing something good for someone to help them have a better life and for them to be happy,” said Miller Intermediate eighth grader Rosalinda Garza. “I’ve never had a feeling like the one I got when my hair was cut for this cause, and it feels so good doing something good like that.”