By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
August 28, 2003

REMSEN - The Gospel values are an important element of the curriculum at St. Catherine-St. Mary Grade School in Remsen.

Last spring, fifth-grade teacher Kathy Rupp instructed her class about the Gospel value of fortitude. Her definition of fortitude is "having the courage and the guts to do what is right, instead of following the crowd."

One of her students, Mercedees Ricke, put this Gospel value into action last May when she got her hair cut.

That act alone doesn't seem too courageous. The real fortitude comes into play with the fact that she cut off 10 inches of her hair - changing her look entirely. Not only that, but she also donated her hair to Locks of Love, a not-for-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 with medical hair loss.

"When I was about 8, I had done it before," said Mercedees, now a sixth grader. "My grandma told me about Locks of Love. My mom went on the Locks of Love web site. They said that they will take 10 inches, but they like 14 to 16 inches better.

"I kept measuring my hair to see how long it was. Then when it was long enough, I put it in a ponytail, and I said, 'I'm going to do the Locks of Love.' We went over to a beautician in Le Mars, she put it in a ponytail at 10 inches and cut it off. We brought it home, took some pictures and then we sent it off."

Donated hair is evaluated for its usefulness according to the following guidelines: the donated hair must be at least 10 inches in length; it must be bundled in a ponytail or braid; it must be free of hair damaged by chemical processing; and the hair must be clean and dry, placed in a plastic bag and mailed in a padded envelop to Locks of Love, located in Lake Worth, Fla.

This organization, which began in 1997, has helped over 1,000 children since its first year of operation. Thousands of bundles of donated hair arrive from around the country. Children comprise over 80 percent of the donors, making this a charity where children have the opportunity to help other children.

Mercedees' mother, Allison Ricke, said an act like her daughter's shows other children her age how to be kind to one another and to just look out at the community to see where they can possible help other people.

"Kids are always kind of like followers," said Allison, a parishioner at St. Mary Church in Remsen, along with her husband Brent. "They see one did do it, and they think, 'Oh, that's pretty cool.' Then they start looking for things that they can do."

Although Rupp is not sure that Mercedees' act was in response to the class working on fortitude, she told her student that it was an ideal way of showing that she was willing to do something for someone else.

"It's just neat that she did something - risked changing her look - to help other kids," Rupp said. "She's a very caring little gal."

Aside from the recognition she received from her family, her teacher and her fellow classmates, who complimented her on her short hairstyle, Mercedees also received a free meal.

"Since our Gospel value was fortitude, whenever we did something that our teacher thought was fortitude, we got a Subway award," she said. "So I got a Subway award for that - to go to Subway and get a little Sub Club and a cookie.

To top it off, she also was invited to join other students for a free day of enjoying some fun rides.

"The night that I had gotten my hair cut off, I had to go to D.A.R.E. graduation," Mercedees said. "Ms. Rupp said to our D.A.R.E. teacher, 'Do you know what this little girl did after school today? She got 10 inches of her hair cut off to donate it to Locks of Love.'

"All the people who had written a good essay got to go to Adventureland. Our D.A.R.E teacher came up to me and said, 'Since you donated what you did, I'm going to take you to Adventureland, too.' I've been there before, but I got to go on a lot of different rides that I had never gone on."

The beginning of the year Gospel value that the students in Remsen are currently working on is acceptance. Rupp said that acts like Mercedees' are a positive sign for teachers.

"In the grade school we work on the Gospel values a lot," Rupp said. "It's really neat when you can see what you've talked about in the classroom being carried over into what the kids actually do in their life away from school."