ELYRIA — Unless we’re talking about a professional hairstylist, no kid really wants his or her parent to cut their hair.

Images of a bowl on one’s head and mom or dad wielding the clippers generally come to mind when the topic is broached.

Still, 13-year-old Logan Perkins said he had to think of something to encourage the other students at Northwood Middle School to best the city’s other two middle schools in an annual canned-food collection competition.

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So one day, Logan, an eighth-grader and vice president of Student Council, came up with the perfect idea as he ran his fingers through his long locks.

He told his classmates he would not only shave his head if they won, but he would also recruit his father, a Northwood history teacher, to do the honors.

“We never beat Westwood and Eastern Heights, and I thought we could if I did something as dumb as this,” he said.
Well, as it turns out the challenge was actually a pretty smart bet.

Northwood students came through for Logan by bringing in 3,169 nonperishable food items — much more than Eastern Heights’ 1,995 and Westwood’s 173. And on Tuesday, Logan, who sported his shoulder length hair to the very end, received the haircut from his father, Scott Perkins.

“He put the little spin on it with the shaving of the head,” said Peggy Kobelka, student council adviser. “It really got the kids into the whole competition.”

Many of those same kids watched as Logan lost his hair.

Scott took off the first snips in chunks, dropping each small handful into a plastic bag.

The hair is being saved to donate to Locks of Love, the organization known for making wigs from human hair for cancer patients.

With each cut, Scott smiled while Logan grimaced.

“If Logan could have long hair, he would keep it forever,” said his grandmother, Sandy Perkins, who came to the school to watch her grandson get his second haircut of the year.

The first was just a clip, barely noticeable, she said. Logan has always reminded her of Scott, who sported long hair when he was a student at Ohio University.

After getting all he could with a pair of shears, Scott moved on to using the electric clippers while students cheered at the transformation Logan was undergoing. Each pass of the razor revealed a young boy few had seen without his full mane.

Midway through the cut, Logan’s mom, Cathy Perkins, stopped snapping photos and walked away so Logan couldn’t see the expression on her face. It was becoming painfully obvious her husband would never moonlight as a barber.

“We’ll get that fixed tonight,” she said of the patchy trim.

Moments later, Scott was done.

Logan ran his hand through his short crop of hair and thrust his arms in the air in victory. His classmates, many armed with cell phone cameras, erupted in cheers.

Then, just before the day ended, Kobelka announced to the entire school that Logan was now bare-headed.

And, when asked how he felt about losing his trademark tresses, Logan said it was not good.

“Not good at all,” he said. “I probably look like my grandfather, and that is not a good thing.”

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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