AKRON - Akron Elementary School more than met their goal for their annual food drive.

And by meeting their goal, Akron Principal Blaine Conley had his hair dyed pink by students and beard shaved off by two teachers this morning.

The school's food drive was Nov. 30 through Dec. 15. If the school collected 3,000 items, Conley said he would dye his hair pink. If they raised 4,000 items, he'd get rid of his beard. In 2005, the school collected 2,700. This year, Akron collected 5,330 items, according to Conley. All items will be donated to Helping Hands, Mentone.

To beat the goal, Conley said a whole lot of people pitched in.

Instead of a gift exchange this year, the third-grade students went to Viking Foods and bought items to give toward the food drive.

Blaine's uncle, Michael, is a retired teacher who moved up to this area from Houston, Texas. Blaine said Michael sent information about the food drive to friends in Houston, who sent Michael money for him to buy items for the food drive. With the money, about 400 items were bought to help the less fortunate.

Students chosen to help Conley dye his hair pink were students who scored a six on the ISTEP writing applications portion of the test. A six is the highest a student can earn. Writing is something Akron School has been stressing, Conley said. The students scoring a six were third-graders Cole Cumberland, Braxton Behny, Harli Manns, Ashlee Marshall, Liz Reeser, and fifth-graders Robyn Dunnuck and Kirsten Schipper.

For shaving Conley's beard, two teachers were drawn randomly from a basket. First-grade teacher Rhonda Jewell and fifth-grade teacher Julia Teel won the honor. [[In-content Ad]]