CNK Barber College offers free cuts to Thomas Street students
Jan. 30—TUPELO — A cohort of students from CNK Barber College in Tupelo set up shop at Thomas Street Elementary School on Tuesday to give kids free haircuts.
Any Thomas Street student who wants a cut can get one, said Thomas Street Principal Christy Carroll, so long as they have permission from their parents.
Depra Loving, family and community specialist at Thomas Street Elementary, said CNK Barber College students offer free cuts at the school two or three times each year, and they've been doing so for five or six years. Loving started the free-haircut program after she joined Thomas Street's staff six years ago, and now she coordinates the haircut events.
"It started with wondering what we can do for the kids and their parents to make their lives easier." Loving said. "(The kids) love it, and the parents appreciate it."
The haircut events are helpful for the barber students, too. They get to work on different hair textures and create a variety of styles.
"It's wonderful practice," barber student Joseph Coleman said Tuesday morning. An instructor is on hand in case the barber students have questions or don't feel confident in a particular style of haircut.
But the events are about more than just cutting hair.
"This is awesome," Coleman said. "It's an opportunity to not only do something awesome for the kids but also a good opportunity to give them some good advice, mentor them if they have questions, uplift their day some type of way."
Carroll noted how much care the barber students take in interacting with the Thomas Street kids. The barber students talk to the children and make sure they're happy with the haircuts they receive.
"These people are so kind," Carroll said. "You can tell they really care about the children. ... They're wanting to serve the community."
Loving's favorite part of the event is how excited the kids are once their haircuts are done. They run up to her with smiles on their faces, asking her to take their pictures and post them on the school Facebook page.
For CNK Barber College instructor Quinton Hankins, the best part of the event is "putting smiles on the kids' faces."
"It's a joy to be able to give back, and to see the joy that they take in," he said.
Hankins has been coming to the haircut events since he was a student at the barber college in 2018. Over the years, he's heard some interesting haircut requests from the Thomas Street students. One kid asked to have one half his head shaved, and another wanted a design of the Hulk shaved onto his scalp. In both cases, the barbers decided not to risk the wrath of surprised mothers.
On Tuesday, one of the barber students, Izaiah Mallory, had to tell kindergartener Ahmari Triplet that he wouldn't be able to dye Ahmari's hair blue like Sonic the Hedgehog's. Ahmari was pretty sure he could convince his mom to let him do it later. He was still able to get a drop fade haircut, though.
Second-graders Dallas Cayson and Laila Cancino planned to get trims. Laila was insistent that the barber students cut off only her dead ends; her hair hung nearly to her waist.
With the care and effort going into an event like this one, Carroll said, "It just tells children that people care about them."
Addie covers education and general news for the Daily Journal. Contact her at addie.davis@journalinc.com.
