If you’ve seen Poly boys soccer coach Nick Greer lately, you’ve probably noticed something different about him – a new mustache.

Greer isn’t making a fashion statement, he’s raising money.

With the “defacement of my (otherwise perfect) visage,” Greer is part of a nationwide fund-raiser called “Mustaches for Kids,” which aims to fund various school projects through Donors Choose. Teachers grow the mustaches for a month to draw attention to their efforts.

“I just thought it would be a good thing, a good opportunity for me to give back,” said Greer, a science teacher who is raising money for several Baltimore City public school teachers’ projects, including a student service learning trip to Central America and some new books.

“Donors Choose is a Web site where teachers can go and make a mini-grant or request funds for materials and people log on and donate to your project if they like it. I won a grant last year when Donors Choose first started, and I won another one by doing this. We picked five or six projects from around the city to see if we can get them funded.”

As of last night, Greer’s projects have raised $320 and some of them are completely funded. He said, as of last weekend, Baltimore projects had raised more than $12,000.

Greer said many of the donations are small and it doesn’t take much to fund a lot of them.

“I know a lot of people who say, ‘You’re a teacher. You give so much to students, but how can somebody like myself help?’ This is a good way to connect with people who don’t have a direct connection to the schools. I can say, ‘Here’s your chance, because $20 can make a difference in a student’s life,’ ” said Greer.

To see Greer with his mustache (dubbed Mr. Oates, a la John Oates of the musical duo Hall and Oates), you can check out his blog, greerteach.worldpress.com. His entries have a link to his page on donorschoose.org.

When can he shave? Dec. 13.
--Katherine Dunn