Park Forest school and barber college really clip
Community partnership results in free holiday haircuts
Free haircuts were part of the curriculum this week for more than a dozen south suburban grade school students, as well as their barber school counterparts who were on the other end of the clippers.
The haircuts were part of a community partnership between Illinois School in Park Forest and Phipps Academy of Barbering in Richton Park. The hair-clipping effort saved money for the families of the young students, and also helped the barber students get some hands-on experience.
By the looks of the smiling youths on the receiving end in the school gym, the partnership was a success.
“I was scared at first,” said Trenton Jordan, a 13-year-old seventh grader who lives in Matteson. “(But) I was really happy. I was like, ‘I got it at school!’ You didn’t have to leave to go anywhere or pay.”
Trenton’s barber, “did a pretty good job,” he said, noting it had been more than a month since his last haircut. Getting it done at school was also just fun for Trenton, who is on the student council, a member of the National Junior Honor Society and one of the Jesse White Tumblers.
The 15 student barbers included one woman, and staff from both schools said she demonstrated that the field wasn’t just for the guys.
Shernita Mays, principal of Illinois School, came up with the idea for the haircut day.
“We were just trying to offer something new and give back to our students,” she said. “Every little bit helps.”
Mays pointed out it takes time to go to beauty shops and prices are on the rise.
“So if this little bit can help for the holidays, that’s what’s important,” she said.
There was also an educational component.
“We know that when you look better, you feel better, you do better academically, in terms of
behavior, and the sky is the limit,” Mays said.
She got the idea when talking to a parent and noticing his son’s hair looked “so well groomed.” He (the dad) told her he was a student at the barber academy and she later found out a neighbor, LaWanda Madison, teaches there.
Madison said she and her students were happy to take part.
“All of the students had smiles and the opportunity was us giving back and making a change in the young boys’ lives,” Madison said. “With the holidays being right around the corner, the timing couldn’t have been better.”
The hair cuts included Afro tapers and trendy lock styles.
“They like to wear what the basketball players wear,” said Madison, a licensed barber and cosmetologist who helps her students prepare for state boards to obtain their own barber licenses.
“I think it was good for my students to have an opportunity to give back, to build character and self-esteem and know if they should prefer to contract out to do senior homes or schools, there’s an open opportunity for them to do that,” Madison said.
The two schools intend to continue their partnership, next time with a day for girls. That could include manicures, face cleaning and hair styling.
“So they won’t feel excluded,” Madison said.
Illinois School kicked off this giving season with a coat drive, collecting 50 coats for their students. Mays said staff encouraged parents to choose one of the coats for their children and also entire families.
They also collected canned goods for an area shelter.
And the school is now collecting hats, gloves and scarves for the Cancer Support Center in Homewood.
“During this holiday season, we choose power over pity and we want to make sure the community knows we are partnered with them and we care,” Mays said.