Hey all!

Once again, and for my 13th year, I am shaving my head for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. It all started in 2005, my rookie year as a public school teacher at Chittum Elementary School in Chesapeake Public Schools (Chesapeake, Virginia). On the first day of class, I met all of the students in my class, except for one.

You see, Jose Andres was officially on my roster, but was not physically present. He was homebound due to cancer treatments for #Rhabdomyosarcoma. For most of the year, I left schoolwork in a blue plastic basket for his amazing homebound tutor to gather up and review with Jose Andres at his home.

Over time, I too became close with his lovely family, especially in the springtime when Jose Andres was finally cleared to return back to class. We affectionally self-nicknamed our group of students, "The Clubhouse." And as part of the Clubhouse, we held tightly to certain ideas, such as the notion that a Clubhouser was an ideal way to live confidently and in excellence. Our motto was simple:

"Once a Clubhouser, always a Clubhouser."

That motto was never more relevant for all us the following school year. Sadly, Jose Andres' cancer returned. This time, I wanted to contribute more deeply to his education and offered to serve as his next homebound tutor, to provide the 6th grade curriculum at his home everyday after school. Graciously, Jose Andres and his family agreed. And for the 2007-2008 school year, I had the distinct honor and privilege of teaching a true Renaissance man, a student who was interested in all aspects of life itself, who wanted to interact about ideas from the curriculum and beyond, who pushed me as a tutor, who lovingly challenged me to think deeply about the purpose of my profession, and who inspired me on a personal note as a friend.

Over the next few years, Jose battled cancer on and off. But in 2009, there was nothing more that the great doctors could do. He passed away in September of that year, but not before he made a point to wish us all farewell. With pure grace and strength, he said goodbye with an everlasting smile on his face and some profound questions to perplex us for some time.

He was a warrior, a great one.

He was my Alexander the Great, and I would have hoped that - even for a few minutes - I was was his Aristotle.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation has always been one of Jose Andres' favorite cause. Needless to say, it was a meaningful cause. But as my person testimony would have it, he enjoyed its silly revelry every year as well, and his laughter during those events will remain seared in my memory for the rest of my life.

13 years later, this is why I shave. And this is why I humbly ask you, once again, to contribute even a little bit to the cause of defeating pediatric cancer once and for all.

Once a Clubhouser, Always ...