The shelves in Christa Whittemore’s classroom at Burlington High School are filled with neatly stacked brush and comb kits, curling irons, and mannequin heads with hair of varying textures and styles.
It’s where, for two class periods each day, she teaches students both the practical and business aspects of cosmetology.
“So far, we have done all kinds of styling,” said Whittemore, who taught at a cosmetology school for six years before coming to BHS to teach the inaugural trimester of the school’s cosmetology program. “We’ve gone over business, taxes, all that fun stuff, kind of how to set up your business as you go so you’re set up for success the entire time.”
Whittemore’s Introduction to Cosmetology class has drawn considerable student interest, so much so that only sophomores and upperclassmen were able to take it this trimester.
With continued interest comes the possibility of expanding the program to include an advanced course in the future. The ultimate goal is to build a program that will provide a pathway for students to pursue licensure in cosmetology, positioning it to become the 13th Career and Technical Education pathway available to BHS students.
It’s different, because not a lot of high schools have this class.
Avaiah Harris, BHS junior
“It’s different, because not a lot of high schools have this class,” junior Avaiah Harris said. “I took this class because I want to go into cosmetology school when I graduate high school, because I know there’s not a lot of people who know things about curly hair and I thought it’d be fun.”
And it has been. Harris and her classmates have been doing hands-on learning with basics like proper sanitization techniques, how to do flat-iron curls, and braiding. They’ve also been learning about hair structure and curl patterns, and how to prepare different hair types and styles to withstand humidity.
“I took this class because I needed a filler class originally but taking it, it’s a really fun class. I like that it’s interactive, because a lot of people are better hands-on learners and this class really provides that,” senior Julie Short-Neff said. “Instead of just all being out of the book, it’s mostly hands-on, which is really nice.”
But there’s more to cosmetology than hair, and Whittemore is making sure her students have a solid grasp of how to successfully operate a salon as well.
“People don’t realize going into cosmetology that there is a lot of business to it, because most of the time you’re essentially your own boss, so they get out and they’re like ‘I have all this money, I’m going to go spend it,’ but they forget about taxes and about rent and about buying product and how you have to keep track of everything, so we’ve been kind of deep diving into that,” Whittemore said during a planning period before delivering a lecture to students that included everything from retaining clients and creating an ambiance to the different types of salon ownership.
Whittemore looks forward to growing the program and offering students even more opportunities for hands-on learning experiences next year.
