Mustachioed staff and students at John G. Prendergast School in Ansonia celebrated Friday the culmination of two fund-raisers to benefit programs at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
The school marked Movember, an international effort during November each year to raise awareness about men’s health issues.
Those who donated $1 got fake mustaches they donned on Friday.
Principal Joseph Apicella, sporting a mustache, presented Griffin Hospital representative Christian Meagher, who also had grown facial hair for the month, a check for $750 raised during the month.
Apicella said $500 was for Griffin Hospital’s Health Initiative for Men, and $250 will go to the Women’s Health Initiative at Griffin.
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HiM was launched in 2011 by Frank Michaud, a partner with the Ansonia accounting firm Michaud and Accavallo CPAs, LLC. He and his wife, Judy, also formed an endowment fund for Griffin Hospital at the Valley Community Foundation.
Michaud said he was grateful to Apicella for promoting HiM at the school, as he has done for the past several years.
Assistant Principal Sherrod McNeill and several male teachers grew mustaches during the month of November to promote awareness.
McNeill told students, “I’m so fired up, and my mustache is looking so amazing.”
Also at Friday’s assembly students won prizes in a “paws-itive” raffle for demonstrating good character.
The school promotes six pillars of character: respect, trustworthiness, responsibility, citizenship, caring, and fairness.
The loot included a Prendergast School cup, notepad, and pencil, and a bracelet that reads “You’ve been caught being good.” The students also received a gift card to GameStop, a video game store.
Winners were Giovanni Donofrio, Justin DaGraca, Lucas Figueroa, Kyle Speck, Hope Yang, Alannah Martinez, Gabriella Morales, Eshona Vickers, Elijah Nieves, Peyton Thompson.
