Gold Star award winners celebrate a first for the north

: Brown was presented with a trophy and cheque for $1,000 by Margaret Sutton, Director of the BC Retired Teachers Association

: Cosmetology teacher Debra Brown proudly displays her Golden Star Trophy and cheque she received from the BC Retired Teachers Association for the year of meaningful interactions her class has had with senior citizens. The students pictured left to right are: Robin Blundell, Kayla Curtis, Kaitlin Turko, Malorie Wark, Kayley Blize, and Sarah-Mae Perry.

By Anne Margaret MacDonald
On May 31st the cosmetology program at Fort Nelson Secondary School (FNSS) was honoured with the Golden Star Award from the BC Retired Teachers Association (BCRTA). This Golden Star Award is one of five awarded to programs around the province for the promotion and interaction of youth and seniors. The award is valued at $1,000 and can be used to further promote the education of students.
Cosmetology teacher Debra Brown applied for the award in early April, and was delighted when she heard that she had won. Since the cosmetology program began in 2007 Brown has made sure to instill the importance of the interaction with seniors to her students.
Twice a year Brown’s class holds a Seniors Day where seniors are able to come in and receive treatments free of charge. They can receive services such as a hair wash, hair cut, hair style, facial grooming, or a relaxing scalp massage for free while the students get the important lesson of how to work with any sensitivities or mobility impairments that the seniors may have. Seniors are also welcome to come to the client days that happen two mornings a week.
Brown says, “Working with seniors is so beneficial for students. Learning how to deal with sensitivity and mobility issues is really important in the salon, as 80 per cent of the job is interpersonal skills and 20 per cent is technical skills.”
Brown also comments that the more her class can appreciate and understand people, the better the services will be for both themselves and the customer.
Margaret Sutton, BCRTA Director, made a trip to Fort Nelson from Dawson Creek especially to present the award to Brown and her class. She said there were 18 applications submitted, and a small panel of adjudicators in Vancouver chose the five winners. The winners consist of two elementary schools, two secondary schools, and one technical school. Out of all the applications Sutton claims that the FNSS cosmetology program was the most unconventional program she’s seen. There are very few schools that have a cosmetology program, nevertheless one that goes out of the way to be such an active part of the community.
Brown plans on using the award money to further the educational experience of the eight senior students in the class. Some ideas to use the money is to take the teens to and educational hairshow in Edmonton or purchasing educational DVDs from OMC Hair World as a teaching aid.
The cosmetology program began when Brown lost her hair shop to a fire in 2006. She decided to take her years of practical skills and knowledge and teach a cosmetology class at the high school with an emulated shop with hair stations, wash stations, and even a front desk to take appointments.
Brown provides the students with technical skills and the theory to back them up, as well as customer service experience in a safe, controlled environment. Upon completion of the two semester program, the students are eligible to write their Provincial Certificate of Qualification exam to become a certified hairdresser.