BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A pair of Harper Creek High School seniors are turning a silly prank into a chance to make a difference by raising funds for foster children with the incentive of shaving their vice principal’s head, eyebrow, and beard in the student section at their homecoming game.
Vice Principal Joe Yurisich has been growing his beard for longer than some of his students have been alive, but that could change this homecoming thanks to seniors Camden Robinson and Ben Ramos.
Last homecoming, Ramos let Robinson convince him to let him shave his head in the student section during the football game. When warned not to repeat the same prank this year, Robinson flipped the script, asking Yurisich how much he would have to pay to shave his vice principal’s head instead.
“I said, ‘2,500 bucks if you’re gonna cut my head’,” Yurisich said, “They came back with, ‘Whatever charity you want.'”
Having family members who adopt and foster children, Yurisich chose non-profit Isaiah 117 House as the charity to benefit from the challenge. The non-profit is currently building a home in Battle Creek to provide support and safety to children awaiting foster placement. In response, Robinson raised the stakes, asking to shave Yurisich’s eyebrow and beard. Yurisich agreed to allow the boys to shave a slit in his eyebrow if they raised $5,500, and shave his beard if they raised $10,000.
“Working in a school, you have kids who come up through rough times or get displaced, and, there’s been many, many occasions I went home and looked at my wife and said, ‘Can we just take this kid in?'” Yurisich said.
After doing some research on Isaiah 117 House, Robinson and Ramos agreed that it was the perfect cause to motivate them to reach their monetary goal.
“I’ve been very blessed growing up, but just realizing that some people aren’t, and then that can be a struggle that you don’t think about,” Ramos said. “Taking a second to slow down, and looking at what these kids are going through, and what they are going to have to go through, it makes me want to help them.”
“It was really hopeful to me to see, like, people that are trying to help people that aren’t in the greatest place,” Robinson said.
To assist with raising the funds, Harper Creek High School has hosted weekly “hat days” on each Friday leading up to the Oct. 3rd Homecoming game, where students pay $1 to wear a hat to school. Ramos’s mother has also organized a GoFundMe.
“We’ve got some posters in the school right now, but right now we’re trying to get out of the school and go around to some businesses and see if they’ll donate,” Ramos said.
The pair also plan to organize a table for cash donations at the homecoming game for last minute donations towards their $10,000 goal.
“A lot of it has been, ‘hey, you ready to go bald?'” Yurisich said, referencing students’ teasing after Ramos and Robinson surpassed the first goal of $2,500.
Isaiah 117’s home in Battle Creek is still under construction, and is expected to welcome children awaiting placement by 2026.
” I’m kind of seeing the world for how it is, and I like doing this positive thing, because it’s like, negativity can spiral, but I also think positivity can spiral,” Ramos said. “Obviously I hope it helps the kids in foster care, but, I think like even like going around the school and other people telling like, ‘oh what I think you’re doing is really cool,’ I think it can even cheer people up that way too.”
Clippers on-hand and hearts in the right place, Ramos and Robinson are more than eager to meet Yurisich under the friday night lights with the hope of a safe space and a fresh start for kids who need it the most.
For more information on how to donate, visit Harper Creek’s website here.
