Lake Placid sixth-grade math teacher James Longrod smiles at the middle/high school on Wednesday. Longrod grew his beard out for No-Shave November. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

LAKE PLACID — Once the donations were tallied, the “dye” was cast for Lake Placid middle school teacher James Longrod.

The sixth-grade math teacher had his beard dyed as part of a fundraiser for the school district’s backpack program, which discreetly sends food home with kids each weekend who may face insecurity. Weekends can pose a difficult time for these students who rely on school-provided breakfast and lunches during the week for nutrition they may not be able to get at home on a regular basis.

The school-wide fundraiser was started by LPCSD earth science teacher Sam Baker. This year, it raised around $250 for the program. The fundraiser was structured in that every dollar students raised earned one raffle ticket, which were collectively put into baskets throughout the course of the 2025 fundraiser. The baskets corresponded to class, and the basket with the most tickets was pulled. That happened to be Longrod’s.

From there, one lucky student’s ticket was pulled. The ultimate prize was a decision, a big one. The student got to choose a design theme for Longrod’s beard, which he had grown through No-Shave November — an annual event where participants grow out their hair for the month to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, particularly prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health — and expanded its charitable purpose to the Backpack Program’s fundraiser.

The winning student chose a meme that’s taken off amongst today’s youth, something that’s as popular as it is an enigma in it of itself: 6 7. The phrase originated from a lyric in the 2024 rap song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla.

Honoring the design, Longrod dyed a six on the left side of his face and a seven on the right, in bright red.

“The kids have been loving it,” he said. “It’s been a fun week. It’s fun to engage with the kids in a bit of a less serious way, and see them having fun.”

As a math teacher, Longrod said the room erupts in laughter and mayhem whenever 6/7 comes up as an answer, something students often preempt for fun.

As for the beard, Longrod said the dye was crisp at the beginning of the week, but has since bled a bit. Even though his obligation to the fundraiser ends at the end of this week, Longrod said the dye just might stick around into next week.