Maureen McCarthy & (Xemplar) daughter Lynn Lerner have recently culminated a 5-year adventure growing their hair for charity. They did this with two friends, FPS Teacher of the Year, Jennifer Franklin, and her daughter Sophia. Together, they  donated over 4 feet of hair to Children With Hairloss. It's a Michigan-based charity that provides free wigs to children with medically related hair loss. Their goal is to collect enough hair to make wigs for the 45 children currently on the waiting list. They joined forces with Salon Legato in downtown Farmington, and anyone who donates 8" or more of hair before July 3 receives 40% off their haircut. So far, over 20 other members of the community have done just that.

Part two of this project is to raise as much money as possible toward the manufacture of the wigs. Each hairpiece can cost from $600-1,600 to manufacture, depending on the complexity. To help in this effort, Salon Legato is hosting a Community Wrap-Up Party on July 8 from 6-8pm. The party will feature live entertainment, light snacks and refreshments, raffles and a silent auction. The suggested admission is a $5 donation to the charity, and all Xemplar Club members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Our guest for our final luncheon of the Spring season was Dick Cook. He is best known for marrying well, to our incoming President Nancy Cook. But Dick is also an accomplished author, Hall of Fame Wrestling Coach, and retired school teacher.Dick taught at Boys and Girls Republic before moving to the Farmington Public Schools, where he spent most of his career. He shared stories with us of successes and failures within our public education system.He recently wrote a semi-fictional book, Frank Henry, that highlights many of the shortcomings of our public schools while following the lives of two young sociopaths as they move through the school system. It was an incredible story, and Dick is a phenomenal speaker. He's a tough act to follow. So we've decided to take a few months off. We'll meet next on Wednesday, September 8 at Cowley's Pub, 12:30pm. See you there.

Our guest for lunch this week was Sneha Reddy, a 2009 Harrison High School graduate. She is a student at the University of Michigan, and a published illustrator. She shared with us how her education in the Farmington Public School system helped begin and shape her part-time career as an illustrator. Her unique story of becoming an illustrator began at Beechview Elementary School. She has drawn the illustrations for 5 published books by author Gaile Harpan: The Ballad of Victor the Cat, The Ballad of Calvin the Cat, The Ballad of Omar the Cat, The Ballad of Furrio the Cat, and The Ballad of Snowball the Cat. Equipped with a Powerpoint show, she showed us how she has grown and learned from each of the books to become the artist she is today. It was an inspiring success story, and a tribute to the art curriculum at our Farmington Public Schools.Her books can be purchased through the Amazon.com store on the  Highmeadow Common Campus PTA web site (supporting future FPS artists).