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Different style of learning
Published 3/6/2010 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGER
The room is filled with sounds of blow dryers, water rinsing freshly colored and cut hair, and students talking with clients about their day and life.
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Daniel Sato/Telegram Anna Rodriguez, left, and Natividad Adame examine one of Adame's mannequins after she is finished styling it Wednesday at the School of Cosmetology at Garden City Community College.
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Daniel Sato/Telegram A student works at a mannequin Wednesday in the School of Cosmetology at Garden City Community College.
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Daniel Sato/Telegram Cosmetology apprentice licences line a bulletin board in the School of Cosmetology at Garden City Community College.
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Daniel Sato/Telegram Students work on mannequins Wednesday in the School of Cosmetology at Garden City Community College. Students work on both live and inanimate subjects during their coursework.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram Kyla Davis, 6, gets a haircut from Sarah Haas on Friday morning at the Garden City Community College School of Cosmetology. Davis already has plans to become a cosmetologist and practices on the family dog. RIGHT: Zaira Jimenez washes the hair of the mannequin that she worked on during class Wednesday at the School of Cosmetology at GCCC.
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Daniel Sato/Telegram Zaira Jimenez washes the hair of the mannequin that she worked on during class Wednesday at the School of Cosmetology at Garden City Community College.
But before clients walk into the Garden City Community College Cosmetology Department, the students have had plenty of practice.
One mannequin gets a finger wave, another gets a set of curlers put in her hair, and another gets a chemical straightener treatment.
The college students work by taking one thin piece of hair, combing with a thin black comb, then they put the hair into a roller.
The process repeats itself until the mannequin's head is full of rollers.
They work from the front of the mannequin's head to the back, and metal barrettes hold the mannequin's hair just above the ears in place.
Other students are spending their Wednesday afternoon styling their mannequin's hair.
Using her fingers, water and gel, Sarah Haas, of Garden City, works on a finger wave on her blonde-haired mannequin.
The process usually takes two hours, she said, which is why she decided to practice it.
A finger wave is an elegant hair style with the front of the hair flat and the bottom of the hair curly.
Haas said her favorite part of cosmetology is doing hair coloring.
"Just to see the look on their face when you nail it and they look at it — that's total satisfaction when you know they like it," Haas said.
There are 28 students in Garden City Community College's cosmetology program, which takes about 10 months to complete. The students attend school from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. most days, and stay until 7 p.m. on Mondays.
The students see clients on Mondays and Fridays and do coursework and practice on mannequins on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The school is set up like a job, said Guille Hinde, an instructor and co-coordinator.
Students have to clock in and out each day and give clients hair cuts, color, pedicures, manicures, facials and makeup on Mondays and Friday.
Zaira Jimenez rolls her mannequin's red hair into rollers. She works from the mannequin's forehead to the back of her head, gently combing the red hair, then rolling each section of hair into green rolling pins.
"I think I'm always going to be in a salon behind a chair, whether it be part time or full time," Jimenez said.
Her mom studied cosmetology in Mexico, and Jimenez said it will be a reliable source of income for her for a couple of years before she moves on to something else.
She plans to major in psychology when she goes back to school, but she said she wants to still work part time at a salon.
"This is a good foundation to have just in case something doesn't work out. I like dealing with people. This seemed like a good opportunity," she said.
Currently, there are two different classes at the cosmetology school at GCCC.
The students who work on the floor on clients have more clock hours and can work on all aspects with clients — from hair cuts, color and perms to nails, facials, manicures and pedicures.
The second class of students is working on coursework in the classroom and can give pedicures, manicures and facials to clients.
Students need 1,500 clock hours to graduate and 320 clock hours to work on clients.
Viviana Garcia, part of the group of newer students to the program, said she wants to become a makeup artist to celebrities eventually.
"It's like a family," she said, with several other students shaking their heads in agreement. "We're always together, and we're always here with each other."
The students have various goals they are working for. Hinde said most students who finish the program will either own their own business or work on commission.
Megan Dawson, a GCCC student from Leoti, has been offered a job in Lawrence at a hair salon. Eventually she wants to return to school and become a massage therapist. She's has been fixing her friends' hair since high school and decided to make a profession out of it.
Dawson worked on a mannequin, combing its hair, then brushing on a relaxer, or a chemical, to straighten its curly hair.
Most students said they want to own their own business.
As part of the curriculum, students learn about anatomy, business and electricity, along with learning people skills and how to have a conversation with a client.
"Mannequins you can sit wherever you want. But you have to work with the person and connect with them and have a good conversation," Jimenez said. She then laughed.
"It's different because a person talks back and a mannequin doesn't."
Jimenez will finish the program at GCCC next week. After that, she will travel to Topeka to take the state tests to become certified. Then she plans to look for a job in Garden City.
"It's something I can rely on," she said. "It's a good foundation to have."
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