Barber program at Oakland high school teaches students career skills
KPIX
By Sooji Nam
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OAKLAND (KPIX) — Castlemont High School just wrapped up its final class of the Barber Entrepreneur Program this semester, and students are excited to see where this new chapter of skillsets will take them.
“Another way to express art, by cutting hair,” Danny Pablo, a senior at Castlemont High School, told CBS News Bay Area.
It all began when Pablo was curious about what life would be like as a barber. When he found out his school offered a free after-school class on barbering and how to start a business, he quickly signed up.
He shared that he practices cutting his friends’ hair on the weekends, and in class, he had the opportunity to cut real hair, not just on a mannequin.
Seven instructors, who are licensed barbers, teach students twice a week on the do’s and don’ts of cutting and styling hair. Instructors from the Paul Mitchell Barber School in the East Bay are also a part of the program.
“My background is really about doing things positively in the community. And Castlemont is kind of important because it’s like my neighborhood,” Frank West, the program coordinator, said.
He founded the program three years ago and wanted to find ways to give back to his hometown.
“I’m really proud of the people that work and support me, and I’m very happy that I’m working in my district with some kind of capacity,” he said.
“My hope is that people like Danny are going to come back to the school and then reproduce what I did, be able to give back,” West added.
He hopes to expand to other school districts outside of Oakland to help students find their passion.
“As a teacher, you always want to see their light bulb go off. And you see a lot of the kids come here and it’s a wonderful thing,” he said.
West said that he hopes the community can jump in to help keep the program going.
“No one thinks about how fragile the high school programs are without steady funding until they are gone. Every day, we’re doing more with less, but we can’t do it alone. If there’s a time to help, it’s now,” West said.
He added that if the community wants to help to contact him at info@jaguarspeedinc.com.
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