Selkirk College Hairdressing Students Up to the Challenge
By Bob Hall
Selkirk College Hairdressing Program students are engaged in a friendly competition and you’re invited to get involved in a way that will leave you with a fresh look.
At the start of January, cosmetology services at Selkirk’s Silver King Campus opened for business. Students in the Hairdressing and Esthetics Programs started booking appointments for a wide variety of services at great prices.
To add a little extra incentive and provide an important learning opportunity, the 15 students in the Selkirk Hairdressing Salon have broken into teams to see who can attract the most clients between now and the end of the semester in March.
“The purpose is to see how it is to run your own salon,” says Nakita Brown, a hairdressing student who arrived to the program from Ottawa. “An important part is to work as a team within that competition. It will prepare us coming out of college and help us learn how to treat customers and fellow employees.”
Students spent the first four months of the program hitting the books hard and learning the proper techniques. Under the veteran guidance of Hairdressing Program instructor Bonnie Piderman, the class is now taking customers.
“We have incredible prices, but it’s much more than that,” says Dawn Wegner, a Nakusp native who decided to change career paths after ten years as a social service worker. “We’re being well trained, we are a good class that knows their stuff, we’re creative, we’re eager and we’re really getting into our groove.”
Piderman has been working with students at the acclaimed Silver King program for 29 years. Five years ago she started competition to help bring a key component of the cosmetology business to life.
“This project gets them motivated,” says Piderman. “It’s a really big stage of the program. If hairdressers get out there and don’t have the incentive of selling themselves and bringing in clientele, they will fail. This is a competitive industry so they have to set the bar really high.”
The hairdressing students provide styling, cuts, hair treatments, perms and colours. Across the hallway in the Esthetics Salon the students offer facials, footcare, waxing, nails, artificial nails and brows/lashes. The esthetics salon is open for appointments Monday to Wednesday and the hairdressing salon is open for appointments Monday to Thursday.
“We’re really appreciative of the community for supporting the salon,” says student Meghan Maglio, who graduated from Nelson’s L.V. Rogers High School four years ago. “The more people we get up here, the better we are going to be when we graduate and get out there in the communities. Hair is a big thing to people, it’s like your security blanket. That’s a lot of trust to put in our hands and it helps builds confidence for us. We’re up to the task.”
To book a hairdressing appointment call 250.354.3243 and to book an esthetics appointment call 250.352.6601 (ext: 13290).
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