![Missouri Military Academy cadet stands at attention with a new boy haircut]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1724361416/missourimilitaryacademyorg/pcrawru4xdzyb9km6uhh/240816CadetThomasLoJackson-2.jpg","width":2048}])
Cadet Christopher Thomas, a high school freshman from Lehi, Utah, arrived for his first semester at Missouri Military Academy on August 9, 2024. He wasn't looking forward to one of the first rites of passage as a new cadet — the first cadet haircut.
"I didn't want to, but I knew I had to," he says about the haircut and saying goodbye to the hair he had grown out for the past three years.
Thomas turned that negative into a positive by donating his hair to Locks of Love. The organization utilizes donated hair to provide hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children at no charge.
Thomas, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says the idea for the donation came from one of the bishops at his church.
"I thought it was a good idea," Thomas says. "I hope other people smile from the donation, to give them the most comfort they can have."
Thomas is the son of Bryan and Susan Thomas.
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![Missouri Military Academy President Richard V. Geraci presents Eagle Talon award to alumnus Jarrod Magee]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1728353567/missourimilitaryacademyorg/ykaeyo7jmvzqvsew1gsd/2024-homecoming-alumni-awards-magee.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1728353567/missourimilitaryacademyorg/ykaeyo7jmvzqvsew1gsd/2024-homecoming-alumni-awards-magee.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1728353567/missourimilitaryacademyorg/ykaeyo7jmvzqvsew1gsd/2024-homecoming-alumni-awards-magee.png","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1728353567/missourimilitaryacademyorg/ykaeyo7jmvzqvsew1gsd/2024-homecoming-alumni-awards-magee.png","width":1200}])