At left, Cedar Hill Elementary third-grader Gabe Bradley sits for a school photo with hair that reaches past his shoulders. At right, Bradley stands in the school with his hair cropped short, having donated it to Locks of Love, a charity that uses donated hair to craft wigs for others.

Ask a third-grader what they’ve done for the last 20 months, and they might shrug, take a wild guess or struggle for an answer.

Ask Gabe Bradley, and he’ll tell you he’s been growing his hair for cancer.

He’ll also tell you he’s planning to do it again — but this time, his goal is to grow for at least two years.

Bradley, who attends third grade at Cedar Hill Elementary School, first decided to grow his hair out so he could look like his father, who Bradley said also had long hair as a kid.

“Then my dad told me my hair was almost long enough for a man bun and he showed me what one was,” Bradley said, “and that’s what I started to grow it out for.”

He said it eventually got so long, new students at school would confuse him for a girl.

“But then they figured it out because of the way I acted at P.E., because I had a lot of energy and kept doing stuff boys do,” Bradley said.

Everyone was ultimately supportive of his attempt to have a man bun. Unfortunately, his hair wasn’t as supportive.

“There were a lot of short hairs for some reason,” Bradley said. “They were just barely long enough to go over my eyes.”

The rest of his hair, however, was down to his shoulders. So, after 20 months of growth, Bradley decided to cut it and start over. That’s when his grandmother told him his hair could go to a good cause.

“My nana said she knew a place called Locks of Love that basically had a lot of sick people and people with cancer,” Bradley said. “They make wigs out of people’s hair that (people) send in and give it to people with cancer.”

He admitted it made him sad to get the hair cut, but he got over it quickly. Now he’s eager to grow his hair long again, and he hopes to grow it even longer than before.

“I’m gonna try for at least two years,” Bradley said. “My mom showed me a man that grew his hair out for nine years. He grew it out for my whole life, basically.”

At 9 years old, he can’t say for sure whether he’ll ever manage to grow his hair for that long, but he did say he’s open to the idea. Right now, he’s happy to hang with friends and enjoy class. He earned a Cedar Hill Cub Award this year after he was “caught” being kind to other students.

“Gabe is an awesome student,” his teacher, Patricia Atchley, said. “He is the first willing to help me or any student that needs extra assistance. He’s a daily blessing to me, and I am so proud his parents have shared him with me this year.”