SALEM — A teacher at Salem Academy Charter School shaved her head yesterday at a school assembly in memory of her 7-month-old grandson, who died last year from a rare form of infant leukemia.
As the shoulder-length, blond locks fell from the head of sixth-grade English teacher Shawn Berry, the students yelped, laughed, applauded and, ultimately, were moved by the sight of the bald teacher.
It was a lesson in love from a teacher who turns 53 on Valentine's Day.
"I think she's a brave person to shave off her hair," sixth-grader Indira Marte said.
"She's kind of heroic," classmate Kevin Tran said.
Berry, a mother of four from Danvers, said she did this for a lot of reasons. She wanted to support her daughter in Arizona, Kendall Hebard, who lost her child last March. Hebard shaved her head yesterday in memory of her late infant, Walter, whose head she had to shave before he entered a hospital last year for a bone-marrow transplant.
The little boy survived the transplant but was never able to be taken off a ventilator and died March 8, 2010, after a five-month battle.
Mother and daughter took on this challenge to raise awareness about cancer in children and to raise money for cancer research.
"I don't feel I'm doing a brave thing," Berry said before sitting down in front of Tiffany Quirk, manager of Fantastic Sam's hair salon in Danvers. "The brave ones are these kids (with cancer). The things they have to endure are sometimes unspeakable ..."
Berry said she was planning to do this in private but was talked into a public event by two colleagues.
"I think, hopefully, this will send a message," she said. "There is never a problem so big that, if you put your energy and passion behind it, you can't make a difference."
The students at Salem Academy Charter School, a grade 6-12 public school, were given a goal of raising $200 in just a few days for St. Baldrick's Foundation, a California charity that funds research to find cures for childhood cancers.
They surprised Berry by raising more than $300. One child brought in a check for $100. On her own, Berry has raised more than $1,000.
Many of the students know Walter's story, followed his battle, contributed last year to Pennies for Patients, a national student campaign, and were moved by his death.
"It's sad," student Jasmine Branden said yesterday as she watched Berry's head being shaved.
Many, too, got a chance last year to meet Walter's older brother, Henry, now 3, who stayed with his grandparents in Danvers while his brother was in an Arizona hospital and who visited Salem Academy Charter School.
When he talks to his grandparents now, Henry says his baby brother "lives in the clouds."
Although he didn't shave his head, another family member remembered Walter in a different way.
The teacher's 24-year-old son, Alex, who plays professional hockey for an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, was scheduled to auction himself off last night at a charity event in Virginia to raise money for a children's hospital.
Berry's husband, Bob, was at the charter school yesterday to support his wife. He stood against a wall, a tall, smiling, bald man.
"My husband is one of the handsomest guys I know," Berry said.
At different locations in the country at different times of day, the Berry family came together yesterday to support cancer research and to remember a little boy they loved.
"He was just the smiliest guy," Berry said, "He was one of those babies who was kind of an old soul from the start. ... He will always be part of who we are as a family."
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