Seven Kofa High School cosmetology students put their technical skills to work earlier this month as they assisted the Yuma School of Beauty at the annual Yuma Bridal Expo.
The students are part of Career & Technical Education’s Cosmetology II classes at Kofa, which is in its second year on the campus.
"Despite feeling scared, I felt good knowing I was doing what I love to do the most on beautiful models,” Kofa senior Annie Lamas said. “The Bridal Expo was an awesome event for our community and I was proud to be a part of it with my classmates."
At the Aug. 24 event, students referred patrons to book hair appointments with them at the school, demonstrated how to do an up-do, and most of all, they ended up styling all of the models' hair for the fashion show.
“I was really impressed at how they were able to handle the situation promptly and how professional they were while helping the models get ready for the show,” KHS Cosmetology teacher Liz Moreno said. “Their hairstyling skills are beautiful and the models were all very happy and looked great on stage.”
Moreno’s class had the students prepared for the professional standards of the event.
“In my class, students have learned how to have great work ethic, communication skills, including client consultations, how to do up-dos, different types of braids, hair extensions and much more,” she said. “So, they are familiar with hairstyling already.”
After successful completion of the Cosmetology I course as juniors, senior students are eligible to take Cosmetology II on location at Yuma School of Beauty (YSB) and requires the completion of 1,000 hours.
“[CTE Executive Director] Lorie Honeycutt worked very closely with the Yuma School of Beauty for students to be able to graduate from high school and be a licensed cosmetologist when they’re done,” Yuma Union High School District Associate Superintendent Tim Brienza said.
According to Moreno, Kofa’s 2019-2020 Cosmetology II students have earned their “hairstyling scholarship” and have been enrolled at YSB since July 30.
“You have the classroom and the lab setting, so we are very fortunate to partner with Yuma School of Beauty,” YUHSD Associate Superintendent Lisa Anderson said. “It’s the same criteria that any student who goes to Yuma School of Beauty would go through, it’s just like the other programs that we have, the district will cover the certification requirement expenses.”
