Bald chums

The Roanoke Times tells us of students at Roanoke Catholic School shaving their heads for their buddy. Eighteen-year-old Andrew is undergoing chemotherapy, and was told he'd lose his hair right about prom time.

The 18-year-old Roanoke Catholic School senior decided he would shave his head at the school's after-prom party. A few of his friends decided to join him.

Then a few more. And a few more. Someone brought scissors, clippers and a basket - to catch all the hair - to the Kirk Family YMCA, where the party was held after Saturday's prom. By the time it was over, 14 boys had nothing but stubble on their heads.

It was a great gesture of support. It required some flexibility on the part of the school, too.

"It's pretty cool that everybody would do that for me, even though most of them didn't want to," Andrew said.

And, technically, they weren't supposed to.

According to the Roanoke Catholic handbook, students aren't allowed to sport shaved heads or the appearance of a shaved head, said Ray-Eric Correia, the school's president.

Some of Andrew's senior classmates approached Correia and school principal Sue Thompson about waiving that rule. They did.

A lot of religious schools have strict rules about hairstyles (among other things); it's nice to see kindness over-riding the rules in this case.