Douglas School students in Princeton raise $3,332, now get to shave their janitor’s beard, head

Motivated in part to shave their janitor’s long beard, Douglas Elementary students in Princeton raised more than $3,332 in the past several weeks to help improve the landscaping around the building.

Custodian Bob Espel challenged the students to see which class could raise the most money and offered to let the top class shave his beard and the runnerup to help shave his head.

Mrs. Richard’s class finished first place and will get the honors Wednesday, May 22, of giving Espel a trimming. Mrs. Pinter’s class ended up in second, earning the honor to shave Espel’s head, and Mrs. Caldwell’s class in third.

All proceeds will go to the new landscaping around the Douglas building, with the first round of plantings to take place with students present this Thursday, May 23. Using funds from the Preschool for All grant, the school has purchased new age-appropriate playground equipment to promote physical activity, creativity and social interaction. To coincide with the arrival of the new playground equipment, the school is seeking help from the community to improve and enhance the existing landscaping by adding new plants and flowers around the building’s exterior.

This isn’t the first time Espel has used a beard shaving to motivate a student fundraiser. In the spring of 2021, Espel challenged the Douglas community to raise money for the Bureau County Food Pantry and collected more than $3,000 by trading his famous beard in for spare change.