With a few notable exceptions (we’re looking at you Walstrom and Johnson), the men of Greeley West High School are a clean-shaven lot.  That all changes each November when a select few volunteer their hair-growing talents to a contest to raise money for charity.

This year’s participants range from young and old, bearded and newly non-bearded; all are hoping to win money for their charity.

The rules of the game are fairly simple: each man doesn’t shave for the month of November.  They ask their students to contribute their change to keep the beard growing.  The faculty member with the most money wins everybody’s money, which is combined to benefit the winner’s charity.  Last year, Mr. Dave Falter beat out Mr. Jeremi Redman for first place and donated nearly $1000 dollars to the AVID Legacy Scholarship.

Falter returns to this year’s competition, playing for the One World Play Project.  Redman also returns for another stab at victory playing for the Immigrant and Refugee Center of Northern Colorado.

Those two frontrunners are joined by Mr. Colin Shaha, Mr. Joe Swanson, Mr. Ryan Hilbig, Mr. Jeff Cranson, Mr. Ryan Allen, Mr. Zach Armstrong, Mr. Taylor Plantt, Mr. Stephen Paulson, and Mr. Ky Dietz.  As has become tradition, Ms. Amy Zulauf will also be raising money, despite not growing a single facial hair in four years.

Armstrong and Plantt refused to shave this year, but did trim their shaggy beards for the competition.  “Our wives have seen what we look like without them,” Armstrong joked.  “We really needed to not start clean-shaven.”

In the early going, Paulson appears the favorite with a full beard in just seven days.  “I feel like my face is crawling,” Paulson said, hinting he may drop out of the competition for the second straight year.

Mr. Ryan Allen, no stranger to the competition himself as a return participant, removed nearly six inches of beard for the competition and is excited to show his students how fast it will grow back.  “Of course I shaved it off for this,” Allen said.  “I’m winning it all this year.”

Here is a list of the competitors and their charities:

Ryan Allen – Prevent Cancer Foundation

Zach Armstrong & Taylor Plantt – Prom Experience for a Newcomer

Jeff Cranson – AVID Legacy Scholarship

Ky Dietz – Prevent Cancer Foundation

Dave Falter – One World Play Project

Ryan Hilbig – Burton Casad Memorial Casita Build

Stephen Paulson – Boys and Girls Club of Weld County

Colin Shaha – AVID Legacy Scholarship

Joe Swanson – Save Venice Inc.

Amy Zulauf – AVID Legacy Scholarship