MONTREAL -- A Ste-Agathe grade two teacher got her long hair cut for a good cause and to impart a valuable lesson on her students on Sunday.

The idea started with Marilena Papadopoulos was reading a book to her class about a girl with a ponytail who made everybody jealous.

“I told the class I was reading it to that I've always wanted to shave my hair,” she said. “The students were like 'Oh miss, why would you do something like that?'”

But seven-year-old Jordan Ervin had a different idea. He asked his teacher to cut her hair and give it to his mom, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

“The way he asked was so pure and genuine, he asked if I would cut my hair to donate it to his mom to make a wig,” said Papadopoulos.

The teacher started a fundraising campaign, ultimately raising $5,000 for the MUHC's breast cancer clinic.

“I just hope that the students see that anything is possible with the right team,” said Papadopoulos. “You can achieve anything and anything is achievable. That's what I want them to see and that's a huge goal of mine. They can know that even if it's a small community, big change can happen.”

She posted a video of the haircut on her Facebook page Monday.