111417 Ata Beards (MA)
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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com
DeKalb faculty (from left:) Math teacher Paul Severino, Art teacher Chad Gregory, Humanities teacher Fred Heuschel, Math teacher Joe Pluskota, Band director Steve Lundin, and Math teacher Mike Lofthouse, along with senior Ali Thahab, 17, and junior Barry Taylor, 16, pose for a photo with various stages of beard growth on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 at DeKalb High School in DeKalb. Approximately 15 staff members and an unknown amount of students are participating in a "No Shave November" as a tribute to Ata Shakir, a social sciences teacher who recently passed away from colon cancer.
"We were looking for ways to honor his memory. It's a good cause I was happy to get in on," said Lundin, adding that he only grows a beard about once every four years. "Most kids only see me once in their entire high school career with a beard."
For Pluskota, growing a beard was a way to make a statement and post tribute to Shakir, and his wife does not mind the prickly scruff. "She's happy about it, but we're going to have a continued discussion about this," Pluskota said, pointing to his neck with a laugh.
