Movember milestone

By Oliver Shedden

Dec 3, 2024

Echuca East Primary School teachers Ben Homefield, Josh Molluso, Matt Saunders, Mark Van Poeteren, Travis Johnson, Jye Warren, Mitchell Hewes and Kyle Armstrong particpated in Movember. Photos: Supplied. Photo by Supplied

Eight Echuca East Primary School teachers completed their Movember challenge — and raised vital cash in the process.

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The teachers were happy to show off their newly-grown moustaches at a celebratory barbecue at the school on Friday morning, November 29.

The eight male teachers were encouraged to keep the hair on their top lip by team leader Matthew Saunders to raise money for men’s mental health and start a conversation around looking after one another at the school.

To celebrate a successful month of fundraising, the teachers hosted a barbecue on Friday morning where they cooked bacon and egg rolls to pair with the school’s crazy hair day.

The group raised $4602, smashing its original goal of $1000 thanks to supportive friends, family and students.

Mr Saunders reflected not only on the month of fundraising, but also on the breakfast and emphasised the high energy and positive atmosphere the morning brought.

The eight teachers raised nearly $5000 for men’s mental health awareness. Photo by Supplied

“We had families, friends and students arriving at 8.15am and there was a real buzz in the morning as we had some music playing and it was an excellent feeling bringing the community together,” he said.

“All the boys were stoked with the result; we had no idea how much we were going to raise and had a target of $1000 and surpassed that.

“It felt wonderful to raise that amount of money to go towards Movember, it was a real feel-good moment for not just the boys who grew moustaches, but for everyone involved and that helped out in one way or another.”

After their month-long effort, Mr Saunders said he and the rest of the teachers were thankful to be shaving off their moustaches.

Mitchell Hewes and Matt Saunders were manning the barbecue on Friday morning. Photo by Supplied

He also highlighted the importance of incorporating positive initiatives such as Movember into the school community and being role models for their students.

“We emphasised that idea of looking out for one another at the assembly following the breakfast to the kids, we want to make sure they’re helping each other out,” he said.

“I think for us as a school, it’s been nice to bring people together and start a simple conversation starter and to use that to check in on people has been one of the positives to come out of the initiative.

“From an adult point of view, it’s great to have staff that are looking out for each other and connected in that way, and we have a responsibility to be moulding the next generation of people positively.”