Hairdresser Laronda Warrick sculpts Prairie View green and black spikes out of the newly shaved mohawk atop art teacher Joe Summers’ head. Summers had promised students he would sport the wild hair if the school placed first at the Pioneer League art competition, which Prairie View did by a margin of eight points. (Photo by Corey Preston)
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Pupils Fulfill Promise, So Teacher Keeps His
Prairie View’s Top Art Finish Leads To Teacher’s Mohawk
By Corey Preston, CoreyPreston@miconews.com
According to hairdresser Laronda Warrick, the sticky green mess she was applying to Prairie View art teacher Joe Summers’ newly shorn mohawk was a legitimate hair product — Clairol No. 618, to be exact.
But that didn’t keep Summers’ students from reveling in the end results of a bargain — Summers promised to sport the mohawk if his students perform well at the district art show — that’s been five years in the making.
“Just imagine if you did green eyebrows too, do you know how powerful you’d be?” joked Caleb Brintnall, one of the students who excelled at this year’s Pioneer League art competition, at which Prairie View took the overall top prize with 84 total points.
“Your wife must really love you,” cracked another student.
In fact, Summers said his wife was initially excited by the news that Prairie View had won, but quickly remembered the implications.
“I told her we got first place and she’s like, ‘Yeah that’s great — oh …” Summers said, his voice tailing off in mock disappointment.
Summers has promised for the past five years that, if his students perform well at regional contests, he will get a mohawk, complete with Prairie View green and black hair dye.
“The last few years we came up just a little short. This year, with the new league, I set it at they had to get first place, and what do you know,” Summers said.
Overall the school received 13 ribbons for the 25 pieces of artwork submitted, including two best-in-show awards for Britnall and Alana Unterbeck. Prairie View bested second place Anderson County in the overall score by nine points. Jayhawk-Linn finished fourth with 47 points.
Finishers to receive artistic excellence ribbons included Brintnall, Deanna Gainer, Heather Hankin, Kim Nguyen, Whitney White and Gretchen Burns. The Prairie View team also finished second in both the sidewalk chalk and surreal drawing competitions.
The students on hand to witness Summers’ momentous haircut included a handful of graduated students, who returned to see their old teacher pay the piper and also to pay homage to a program that has steadily improved over the years.
“We’ve all worked really hard the last few years to make this program the best it can be,” said Gainer, a senior. “I’m just proud of the whole program, plus it’s nice to see Summers with no hair on the side of his head.”
As Warrick completed work on the green and black spikes atop Summers’ head — she said the color would likely last through the end of the school year — students pushed for dye to be applied to the beard, and yes, the eyebrows, but Summers drew the line at his formerly golden, and full, head of hair.
Still, Brintnall scored another good one-liner when Summers revealed that, while he’d been assured by competition officials that Prairie View had triumphed, official results hadn’t been released when he told his students.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we didn’t win, and you got the mohawk anyway?” Britnall laughed.
Summers smiled.
“It’s worth it. It’s just nice to see you guys recognized,” he said, twitching as a glob of green Clairol No. 618 inched its way down his nose.
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But that didn’t keep Summers’ students from reveling in the end results of a bargain — Summers promised to sport the mohawk if his students perform well at the district art show — that’s been five years in the making.
“Just imagine if you did green eyebrows too, do you know how powerful you’d be?” joked Caleb Brintnall, one of the students who excelled at this year’s Pioneer League art competition, at which Prairie View took the overall top prize with 84 total points.
“Your wife must really love you,” cracked another student.
In fact, Summers said his wife was initially excited by the news that Prairie View had won, but quickly remembered the implications.
“I told her we got first place and she’s like, ‘Yeah that’s great — oh …” Summers said, his voice tailing off in mock disappointment.
Summers has promised for the past five years that, if his students perform well at regional contests, he will get a mohawk, complete with Prairie View green and black hair dye.
“The last few years we came up just a little short. This year, with the new league, I set it at they had to get first place, and what do you know,” Summers said.
Overall the school received 13 ribbons for the 25 pieces of artwork submitted, including two best-in-show awards for Britnall and Alana Unterbeck. Prairie View bested second place Anderson County in the overall score by nine points. Jayhawk-Linn finished fourth with 47 points.
Finishers to receive artistic excellence ribbons included Brintnall, Deanna Gainer, Heather Hankin, Kim Nguyen, Whitney White and Gretchen Burns. The Prairie View team also finished second in both the sidewalk chalk and surreal drawing competitions.
The students on hand to witness Summers’ momentous haircut included a handful of graduated students, who returned to see their old teacher pay the piper and also to pay homage to a program that has steadily improved over the years.
“We’ve all worked really hard the last few years to make this program the best it can be,” said Gainer, a senior. “I’m just proud of the whole program, plus it’s nice to see Summers with no hair on the side of his head.”
As Warrick completed work on the green and black spikes atop Summers’ head — she said the color would likely last through the end of the school year — students pushed for dye to be applied to the beard, and yes, the eyebrows, but Summers drew the line at his formerly golden, and full, head of hair.
Still, Brintnall scored another good one-liner when Summers revealed that, while he’d been assured by competition officials that Prairie View had triumphed, official results hadn’t been released when he told his students.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we didn’t win, and you got the mohawk anyway?” Britnall laughed.
Summers smiled.
“It’s worth it. It’s just nice to see you guys recognized,” he said, twitching as a glob of green Clairol No. 618 inched its way down his nose.