Published: May 16, 2008 09:25 am         

Teacher goes to great lengths to help cancer patients

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

“Why … was he just a hairy guy [some may ask] … hairy noon and nighty, night, night?”

For Rusty Haygood, growing his hair long was for a noble cause – Locks of Love. The non-profit organization provides hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Contrary to the song “Hair’s” lyrics, growing his hair long was “for a lack of bread.”

“There’s not a whole lot I can do on a teacher’s salary,” he said about his gift of providing hair for children’s hairpieces.

“A lot of times people don’t feel they can do much because of their money situation, especially these days. If people could think of any way – even a small way – they could pitch in an help out, that would increase participation,” he said.

So, Haygood decided to grow out his hair over the past three years or more, so it would be long enough to contribute. This enterprise concluded Wednesday at Pro Cuts in Mineral Wells.

Pro Cuts assistant manager Amy Cole banded his hair in four smaller ponytails before tackling Haygood’s hair with her scissors.

His two sets of twins – Joshua, Jordan, Brandon and Brooke – witnessed the transformation. Brooke documented it on her digital camera.

Brooke should know the sensation her father went through Wednesday as his locks were cropped for a cause. She preceded her father in growing her hair out for Locks of Love. By the time she was in fifth grade, her “flowing, showing” hair was to her waist when she decided to donate it.

“Dad, you’re gonna make me cry. I’m gonna miss the old you,” she said as her father’s ponytails were chopped off one by one.

“What are your students going to say?” she asked her father, who teaches fourth grade at Travis Elementary.

“I’m not going to tell them; they won’t notice,” was his joking reply.

On Thursday, after following up on his student’s reactions, Haygood said, “I told them my name was Joe Snigglefritz, substitute teacher for Mr. Haygood.”

Clearly a teacher and parent with a strong undercurrent of humor, he added, “I told one student somebody snuck up behind me with a WeedEater and by the time I turned around, they were gone.”

“You cut your hair … why did you cut your hair?” he heard from many.

Haygood tried to explain to his fourth graders that during the process of dealing with cancer many people lose their hair.

He explained, “My hair’s still around, it’s just going to be somebody else’s.”

Haygood’s impetus to become hairy started after the death of his aunts, Nancy Patterson and Jeanne Miller, who “had a beautiful voice.” Just over a month ago his cousin, Kirk McGee, died of pancreatic cancer.

He contributes in other ways, too. In his free time, he plays the keyboard, sings backup vocals and “lead vocals every one in a while” in the local classic southern rock band Hog Leg. The band occasionally plays for benefits, including for cancer patients and Toys for Tots drive.

Although his hair wasn’t “a fright,” he said it was sometimes a topic of conversation.

One woman asked him, “Are you a Native American?”

He said comments were mixed and ranged from “good comments from ladies,” to some negative comments too, “when performing in public some [men] said, ‘We need to cut his hair.’”

***

Haygood is the “product” of two educators – a father who was a Texas History teacher and a mother who taught art.

Haygood and his wife, Lisa, also a teacher, live in Millsap. They split the distance between their jobs – she teaches theater arts at the Weatherford High School Ninth Grade Center.

Together, they have five children, including the two sets of fraternal twins. The eldest, Christopher, 20, is interested in writing. Josh, 17, is involved in Texas Boys State and is the rising Mineral Wells High School drum major, while his twin, Jordan, also 17, is MWHS band president and first chair saxophonist. In the last set of twins, Brooke, 14, is involved in choir and art and Brandon writes and is interested in a possible career in writing for the screen or theater.

Observing his family, one could say music and art are definitely genetically inherited.

“My parents encouraged art and music at an early age. My mom is 80 and still teaches private art lessons and paints. The old garage we used to jam in while in high school is now an art studio,” he said.

At 50 – or “half a century old” as his students say – Haygood is in his eighth year of teaching at MWISD and 19th year overall.

A native of Rosenberg, Texas, way down the Brazos River and southwest of Houston, Haygood has worked with a variety of teaching environments. Along the way he has worked with head-injured adults, emotionally disturbed or abused adolescents and regular education students.

Haygood said these experiences helped prepare him for “a lot of the types of problems he sees today in the regular classroom [especially] when they are having a rough time.”

He also noted that with the Federal “No Child Left Behind” Act, “regular education teachers now take up more responsibilities in the regular ed classroom with students who have traditionally been in special ed programs.

“Basically I think my background has taught me a lot of patience,” he said. “After becoming a parent, I think that helped make me a better teacher, too.”



***

A day after the locks were off he said, “This was the easiest way to lose weight. I feel 20 pounds lighter.”

What will happen to his “shining, gleaming, streaming; flaxen, waxen” … hair?

Cole will send it to Locks of Love and said they could die it any color.

“He’s got a lot of hair – at least [enough] for four kids,” she said. “This is the most I’ve ever cut off for this cause.”