Styling their futures: Bryan students explore careers in hair and makeup

February 14, 2025

Lincoln Public Schools students Jurny and Amiah saw how they could style their futures in the world of hair and makeup during a field trip to downtown Lincoln.
 
The Bryan Community Focus Program classmates traveled to the College of Hair Design (CHD) alongside fellow AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students. The group learned how to become hairstylists, cosmetologists and estheticians and discovered how those jobs help other people.
 
Jurny and Amiah said they are interested in traveling on that career path after earning their LPS diplomas. They said the topics of hair and cosmetology have had positive effects on their own lives.
 
“I love doing my hair and makeup and just love it in general,” Jurny said. “I know how it can make everybody else feel, and I just want to bring that good feeling to other people.”
 
“I always felt like those were things I enjoyed,” Amiah said. “What’s something that I like to do that I can combine with art and creativity, and then also make money from it and give people something that they like? I was like, ‘Oh, I could do hair. I could do makeup. I could do nails. I could do body care.’”

 
The field trip was the latest career exploration adventure for Bryan students in the AVID program. They have investigated a wide variety of job options by visiting with professionals, touring workplaces and learning about postgraduate schools. They went on six field trips last year and will take at least that many this year.
 
Bryan teachers Chelsea Gibeault and Joanna Davis-Yoakum and school counselor Melissa Sellon accompanied the group to the College of Hair Design. Gibeault and Davis-Yoakum began leading AVID classes at Bryan last year and incorporated field trips into their lineup of lessons. Gibeault said providing students with firsthand views of potential careers has been life-changing for many of them.
 
“Last year we had more kids apply to college and get accepted to college than ever before, and we attribute a lot of that to the field trips,” Gibeault said. “The trips showed students what the possibilities for their futures are. They showed them that these are careers they can do, and once the kids saw that, they wanted to know what steps they needed to take to get there.”

 
Gibeault and Davis-Yoakum have asked AVID students about their career interests to gauge which field trip locations would have the most impact. Class members have also completed career assessments to further pin down prime destinations.
 
“A lot of our students have been interested in cosmetology, esthetician or barber,” Davis-Yoakum said. “We decided that we would make it a point to take our students on a field trip to this area.”
 
Bryan sophomore Maddix said he was impressed with what he learned during the visit. Four current CHD students talked about their experiences at the school and why they wanted to join the profession. Several CHD instructors also spoke about their backgrounds and offered details about the college’s curriculum, class structure and financial aid options.
 
“It was really informative and it was really open,” Maddix said. “You could talk back and forth and there was a lot of opportunity to get feedback. It was less of a one-sided lecture and more of a conversation.”

 
CHD students complete 1,800 hours of schooling in the barber arts curriculum. In addition to core elements such as cutting, styling, shaving and chemical texturing, they also study chemistry, bacteriology and skin and nail diseases.
 
Jurnie has been cutting, styling and dyeing her own hair for several years. She would like to attend CHD and eventually open her own hairstyling business. She spoke with excitement after the presentation and building tour were completed.
 
“I want to do cosmetology and hair-cutting in the future, which is a big reason why I wanted to come today,” Jurnie said. “Coming here and hearing about the experiences everybody had made it set that I wanted to come here for school.”
 
Amiah said a previous conversation with a CHD staff member had been a confidence-boosting moment. The same staff member spoke with students during the field trip, which reinforced Amiah’s belief that a hairstyling career was possible.
 
“I’m the main person pushing myself to do it and I want it the most, so I feel like I can do it,” Amiah said. “She gave me a lot of motivation.”
 
Gibeault, Davis-Yoakum and Sellon said the field trips have dovetailed well with a new state law requiring students to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Sellon said it has been a revelation for many future LPS graduates to know that scholarships and grants are available.
 
“With the FAFSA law, kids are realizing that they can get financial aid to go to school,” Sellon said. “Some of them never knew that before.”
 
Gibeault said it is encouraging to watch Bryan students begin to braid together successful career outlooks this year.
 
“We’ve never had as many kids bring up the topic of college to us as they have recently,” Gibeault said. “It’s really cool. They’re definitely focusing on their futures.”

Learn more about our AVID program on the LPS website at https://home.lps.org/avid/.
 
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