‘Everybody’s accepted’: Inside a classroom where hands-on learning is opening doors for youth in North Battleford

In a classroom that looks more like a salon than a lecture hall, students move between mannequin heads and mirrors, learning how to work with their hands – and with one another.

“I have both girls and boys come in here to do the hair and aesthetics program and it’s a very welcoming space to everybody that comes in because we work as a team,” said Koraley Anderson.

That same approach extends beyond the classroom and into the drama club.

“Anybody’s welcome, no matter who you are, where you are, what you are, kind of thing,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s welcome, everybody’s accepted, and everybody’s treated with respect.”

The space she describes sits inside North Battleford Comprehensive High School, where Anderson teaches Grades 9 to 12 hair and aesthetics. She also teaches native studies and English.

Students begin with the fundamentals, learning how to properly shampoo hair, before progressing into styling, facials, manicures, pedicures, colouring and cutting as they move through Grades 10, 11 and 12.

“We start with mannequins,” Anderson said. “And we go through different types of shampoos and conditioners, what you should be using on certain types of hair.”

Inside the hair and aesthetics classroom at North Battleford Comprehensive High School in North Battleford. The program offers hands-on training in hairstyling and aesthetics for students in Grades 10 to 12. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW Staff)

(Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By their final year, students put those skills into practice on real people during weekly “client days,” sometimes working on fellow students or staff members.

For some students, the program offers a direct bridge into the trades.

“They actually will go to college, whether it’s here in North Battleford or in Saskatoon to MC College, and they’ll pursue a career in hairdressing.”

Some students have received scholarships connected to their participation in the program, while others continue accumulating hours through Sask Youth Apprenticeship after graduating.

Enrolment has been growing. This year, Anderson said her largest class included 33 Grade 10 students, followed by about 25 Grade 11s and eight Grade 12s.

“And then everything we do here, it just enhances their skills when they’re ready to go out and pursue this career in the future,” Anderson said.

A hairstyling project a student is working on. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

(submitted/Koraley Anderson)

Learning by doing and creating

Anderson said teaching in a hair and aesthetics program was a goal she carried for years.

“And it took me 17 years of teaching before I got this position here,” she said.

She often tells students that hairdressing helped pay her way through university and that the field offers more possibilities than many people realize.

“With having these types of programs, you’re not just limited to just hairdressing,” Anderson said. “You can go out and be a hair designer or a design person for runway models, or you could be behind the scenes on movie sets doing hair and makeup, or with plays doing makeup.”

That connection between hair, aesthetics and performance plays out daily through the school’s drama club. Anderson, who is one of the adult directors of the club, said students collaborate closely on productions, handling hair, makeup, props and costumes.

One recent highlight was a shark costume – built from cardboard, fabric and glitter – created by students for a school play in just over a month.

“The way they were able to put together this costume, that it’s basically a full body puppet in a matter of a month and a half, was just fantastic to watch,” Anderson said.

A North Battleford Comprehensive High School student wears a student-built shark puppet created for the drama club’s recent dinner theatre production of Container of Sharks.(submitted/Edward Edmonds)

For Anderson, the most important takeaway isn’t technical skill.

“Building confidence is basically like a big thing,” she said. “Nowadays, like you see a lot of students coming in with a lot of anxiety or not confident in their own abilities.”

She said standing behind a chair – creating something from start to finish – can help students step beyond their comfort zones.

Students of all genders take part in the program, she added, and the classroom is designed to be welcoming.

“Everybody’s welcome, everybody’s accepted, and everybody’s treated with respect.”

As projects unfold, Anderson said teachers step back and allow students to make creative decisions.

“We’re just kind of in the background guiding them,” she said. “So it’s nice to see them taking on responsibility and leadership.”

Each year, she sees growth – not just in skill, but in self-belief.

“Every year I say it’s the year that I’m most proud of the students,” Anderson said. “And it’s true because the students come so far from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

In a classroom that looks like a salon and feels like a creative studio, those changes often arrive quietly.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

‘Everybody’s accepted’: Inside a classroom where hands-on learning is opening doors for youth in North Battleford

Learning by doing and creating

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