Making the Cut
by Dan Mullins
A group of students from John Rennie High School’s CFER and mainstream programs are making the cut.
Part of a new initiative, the students have been participating in a 10-week Barbering Apprenticeship Program at Quality Cuts in Pierrefonds with the shop’s owner, barber, and barbering instructor William Biney.
While excellent, in-depth and fully-subsidized Hairdressing and Barbering programs are available for full-time students at the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s own Gordon Robertson Beauty Academy, the John Rennie students are not ready or eligible to make the leap into a vocational program. A grant was secured from the ministry to cover the associated costs of the private Apprenticeship program.
In the Quality Cuts program, whose slogan is “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future,” an emphasis is put on learning to style diverse hair textures, as well as on the self-esteem and “soft skills” required to work successfully with the public.
“As young adolescents, you have to know how to stand tall, and understand that hard work pays off,” says Biney.
After several weeks of theoretical study, the Rennie students have begun working on actual people. Initially, they were encouraged to bring in a family member. By all accounts, they are giving good haircuts.
In the Quality Cuts program, whose slogan is “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future,” an emphasis is put on learning to style diverse hair textures, as well as on the self-esteem and “soft skills” required to work successfully with the public.
“As young adolescents, you have to know how to stand tall, and understand that hard work pays off,” says Biney.
After several weeks of theoretical study, the Rennie students have begun working on actual people. Initially, they were encouraged to bring in a family member. By all accounts, they are giving good haircuts.
Davion Campbell oversees the barbering project for John Rennie. A CFER teacher, he is nonetheless responsible for the mainstream students as well. The CFER program aims to help Prework Training students become autonomous and engaged citizens who are productive workers, and was housed at Riverdale High School before it was forced to close, eventually moving to John Rennie.
Before he was a teacher, Campbell was an Integration Aide. He was encouraged by then-principal of Riverdale Tom Rhymes (later Assistant Director General of the Board) to get his teaching certificate. He recounts the difficulties of moving to Thunder Bay to do so.
Without an income, a place to stay, or much by way of savings, “I said I would stay anywhere as long as they didn’t have cats. I’m allergic,” said Campbell. When he arrived, the person who had promised to rent a cat-free room to him had cats. “I remember walking down the street with my bag, not knowing where to go,” he says. “It wound up being the best thing I’ve ever done.”
And now, he’s encouraging students to find their path.
“We’re trying to work with kids and show them that there are other avenues you can go down to be successful,” said Campbell.
