by Skye Moore, Cosmetology senior (NCSD)

Cosmetology Instructor Mrs. Jones recently assigned an exciting project. Her students were tasked with the job to complete a hairstyle on a mannequin and a trifold display based upon an era of their choice from the 1900s to the early 2000s. The trifold would include some of the major events that took place in their era including makeup, fashion, famous people, movies, and even the products used to create their hairstyle. Excited, students picked their decades randomly and quickly got to work to determine their next course of action. With only two weeks to complete the assignment, the seniors quickly got to work.

While others immediately knew what hairstyle they were going to present and found it to be an easy task, others had a hard time deciding which was the best to showcase their decade and talents. “For me, choosing the hairstyle was easy, but deciding how the hairstyle was going to be tackled is a whole different story,” states Jordan Flowers (Union). This is when students needed to engage critical thinking skills and a different type of research — less academic and more kinesthetic.

Once the students all finally determined their hairstyles based on the decade, they quickly focused on their research to brainstorm ideas for their posters. They began with their posters and gathered as much information as they could. They scoured the internet, searching looking for their decade's most interesting events and fashion in writing and pictures. Once finished, they started writing and soon put their trifold together to make a colorful, informative display board.

After tackling their research -- which become a physical background for their featured mannequin, the seniors turned to their hands-on learning ~ the hairstyle. With each featuring a different era, all projects were going to be different, ensuring overall variety from the shop. Hairstyles had to be accomplished with their very best work; everything was to be neat and correctly executed according to industry standards. Even though this portion of the project took a lot of time, effort, thought, and even some hairspray, they were able to finish with pride in their accomplishments.

While the Seniors finished up their mannequins and tri-folds, the juniors were tasked with cleaning the showcase, so that their fellow students could have a clean slate to display their finished project. As they finished, so did the seniors, and it was time to place the finishing touches and make a standing card that stated the inspiration for the look.

When all was said and done, the students placed their projects in the glass case and finally finished everything. Maylene Ritter (Ellwood City) states, “My favorite part of the whole project was the hairstyle. I feel like it tied the whole project together in the end.”

Ms. Jones mentions, “The point of the project was to give the students a chance to familiarize themselves with different eras and to show them that they were able to professionally and neatly. These students took my vision of this project and brought it to life. I am very proud of all of them!” By the end of the project, the seniors were feeling better about creating different hairstyles, and they learned a bit about the history of the beauty industry while doing it.