Think back to middle school. Maybe you were part of the drama club or on the debate team. One Rockford school has a club that not only boosts students’ confidence but also enhances their appearance.
It was a Tuesday afternoon at Flinn Middle School, and the halls were jam-packed with students making their way out of the building.
Most were headed home, but some stayed for the Hair 2 Beauty Club. On this day, more than two dozen students showed up. The group included Black, white and Hispanic girls. Because of that diversity, students learn how to style different hair textures.
Tionna Lambert is the school’s registrar and organizer of the club. She is also a licensed cosmetologist who started doing hair in middle school. Now, she’s styling middle schoolers’ hair.
"When they have a hair crisis," Lambert said, "I take them around the corner from my desk and fix their hair. So, I've done anything from edges to ponytails to full head of braids to fixing locs."
When Lambert mentioned "edges," she was referring to a smoothing technique around the hairline, also known as "laying edges." The process involves applying hair gel for a smooth finish.
Lambert’s attention to students’ hair got parents talking, and some approached her about creating a beauty club.
"I had to go to the building principal of the school," she said. "I spoke with one of the teachers here, and he was like, 'I don't know,' …and he [the principal] gave me the green light. He was like, absolutely. It went to board for us to get approved to do it."
Lambert said the school helped provide supplies. Donors contributed a styling chair, hair tools and products, and some professionals volunteered their services.
People from The Cosmetology and Spa Academy occasionally visit the club, and Lambert has also brought in a barber and other beauty experts.
That day's guest was Samantha Hart, a Realtor whose hobbies include hairstyling. She placed several mannequin heads across the middle of a long table.
"Today it's a little bit of learning how to French braid," she said, "because that's the basis of crocheting hair into your head. So, the ones who want to learn how to French braid, and then the ones who already know how to French braid, I'm just showing them how to crochet the hair in and how to take it out."
You may think of yarn when you hear the word "crochet," but this technique involves hair. It is done by adding synthetic or natural hair to a client's own hair. The tool used differs from a standard crochet needle because it has a hook latch that closes.
"We actually latch the hair weave to the hook and pull it under the French braid," Hart added, "so we have a little bit more control with the hair than you would with the yarn when you're crocheting."
Eighth grader Na'Layziah Morrow is Lambert's club assistant. She joined the beauty club last year. Her mother and cousin taught her how to style hair, but she wanted to learn more. Her favorite style is a "sew-in," in which the client’s hair is braided and extensions are sewn into the braids with a special thread instead of being crocheted in.
"And then after you sew it into your braids," she explained, "you have like a part in the front where you don't braid, and then you hot comb it and stuff like that, and then you'll curl it or leave it straight."
Sixth grader Amina Rios Quinones has learned how to braid and put her hair into updos. But hairstyling is not the only skill she has gained.
"I'm learning," Amina said, "how to interact with other people and how to, like, talk with other people on how to do the hair, or, like, help them with the advice."
Students also learn beauty techniques such as microblading, a semipermanent eyebrow procedure. Lambert listed a few other skills they have practiced.
"Last week we learned how to put on acrylic nails," Lambert said. "We also learned how to do eyelashes. They've done it on each other. I've done it on the students."
"I can do nails — well, a little bit of nails," said sixth grader Tariya Rosario.
Her favorite technique is applying fake nails with an acrylic overlay.
"You got to glue it on first," she said. "You [have] got to file it down. And then it's like this stuff, like this powder stuff, and you dip it in this, like this watery stuff. And then you dip it in the powder, and you lightly put it on there."
After it hardens, more filing is done to smooth the nails.
Lambert said she has been shocked by how much last year's students have grown.
Amina said learning how to style her hair gives her confidence because she knows how to make it look nice.
Hart keeps returning to teach the girls because she believes it is important for them to learn basic hairstyling skills.
"They need to know how to be able to do the basics," she said, "the minimum, or even if it's a desire to go further and do more people's hair, you got to start somewhere."
Last year, the club had about 40 members. This year, membership has grown to around 60.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
