AUSTIN -- Crockett High School in Austin Independent School District is helping students reach their dreams of being cosmetologists without paying the hefty price tag.
Salon Crockett at Crockett High School is where budding cosmetologists learn the ropes of doing hair, makeup and manicures... for free. The Crockett program is saving these students as much as $24,000 in cosmetology school enrollment fees by letting them earn the 1000 classroom hours needed take the state's cosmetology license exam, all by the time they graduate high school.
"We just pay for like our uniforms, our mannequins and that's pretty much it," said senior Daniela Alvarado Reyna.
In the past three years, Reyna said she learned all the basics, from doing a perfect roller set to applying a soothing facial that calms the senses.She thinks this will help her get a job when she graduates from high school.
"I plan on doing something in a hair salon," Reyna said.
Ida Villarreal, a Salon Crockett instructor, said the standards students are held to at the salon are high
"We have very high academic standards, physiology, chemistry, biology, anatomy and they're held to those standards," Villarreal said. "We build resumes for them and have practice job interviews, employ them before they graduate high school. Most of them averaging, starting off at $27 an hour the day after they graduate high school."
This year, the salon has undergone a major face-lift,with the school unveiling a much larger space and upgraded furniture to students and customers.
The salon renovation cost the district about $350,000. It was all part of the district's 2012 bond project.
Alex Quiroz graduated last year from Crockett High School. Before he graduated, he helped the salon find its new style.
"It looks so professional I feel like it looks like a high-end salon in here," Quiroz said. "We designed everything, sat down with the architects and everything and picked everything out."
Now that he's graduated, Quiroz says the experience he got at the salon helped launch his career at MAC, a cosmetics company.
He's convinced that current students learning at the salon will be just as prepared to launch careers doing what they love.
"If there is any kind of thought in your mind of what you want to do and you're young enough to still be in school and do it, I would definitely take advantage of it," Quiroz said.
Salon Crockett is open to the public on Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.. Tips are encouraged.
Students from any Austin school can transfer to Crockett to attend their cosmetology class.
