社区黑料

This article is one in a series at 社区黑料 that profiles the heroes, victories, success stories, and random acts of kindness found at schools all across America. Read more of our recent inspiring profiles at聽The74Million.org/series/inspiring.

Teachers know that to get their students鈥� attention, a demonstration is sometimes required.

So when kindergarten teacher Shannon Grimm, of Meador Elementary School in Willis, Texas, noticed that one of her students, Prisilla Perez, seemed quieter and refused to take off her hat during class, Grimm decided she needed to do something about it.

Grimm explained to that the 5-year-old鈥檚 friends had teased her 鈥� she didn鈥檛 want to come to class because they 鈥渃alled her a boy鈥� because of her short hair, 鈥渁nd those words cut deep.鈥�

So Grimm set out to challenge that behavior.

According to , she told her class, 鈥淏oys [can] have long hair like girls, and girls [can] have short hair like boys.鈥� To illustrate the point, Grimm showed her class pictures of female celebrities with pixie cuts. According to a with Grimm posted on Twitter, the list included Emilia Clarke, Katy Perry, and Kate Hudson.

When that didn鈥檛 work, Grimm took matters, and a pair of scissors, into her own hands 鈥� and cut off her waist-length hair to match Prisilla鈥檚.

After winter break, Grimm debuted her new hairstyle to the class in solidarity with Prisilla.

To top it off and tie it all together, Grimm bought matching bows to wear with the little girl. According to , Grimm keeps the bucket of bows in the classroom.

In her Facebook Live post, Grimm explained her drastic haircut: 鈥淢y students mean more to me than my hair.鈥�

Like Prisilla, Grimm was told she looked like a boy 鈥� by her own 5-year-old son. Also like Prisilla, Grimm misses her longer hair and admits feeling a little self-conscious going to grocery stores and other public places. But, she says, 鈥淵ou have to teach them, and show them, that you are there for them.鈥�

Grimm also had another surprise for Prisilla. She nominated her as Willis Independent School District鈥檚 Student of the Month, and on Feb. 11, Prisilla was awarded with a medal for being her hero.

https://www.facebook.com/WillisSchools/posts/2020838324636705

Then, in a surprise turn of events, Prisilla presented Grimm with a medal for her heroism. According to , she told her teacher: 鈥淲hen I get big like you, I will have friends who will be mean to me, but I will be nice to them just like you.鈥�

And that鈥檚 the long and the short of it.

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