Chattahoochee Technical College will be expanding its program offerings with a new diploma and certificate program in barbering this fall. The college already offers cosmetology classes at three of its campuses, the new barbering courses will be added to the schedule for the Marietta Campus. The program’s new instructor Jerome Heath decided to turn to teaching his skillset because of his passion to give back to others. “I’ve always had a desire to see others reach their fullest potential,” he said. “I think the best skills that a student should possess are people skills. It is important for a potential student to have genuine interest in the better good of others.” While this is a new program to Chattahoochee Technical College, there is evidence that the field has existed for thousands of years. The industry has evolved through the ages as tools and technologies have improved. And according to Health, there are many options available to licensed barbers beyond cutting and styling hair.
“Barbers can represent product manufacturers by educating their peers about the products of various men’s hair care companies,” he noted. “They can serve in the area of education for new barbers in a barber school setting. Barbers can become entrepreneurs owning their own shop and or school. Barbers can serve as product distributors. The technical knowledge that barbers receive in the area of product knowledge places them in a prime position to sell and distribute on behalf of men’s hair care companies.” Offered at the diploma and certificate levels, classes will be held at the Marietta Campus on South Cobb Drive. The diploma level has been designed for potential students who are new to the hair care industry, while a technical certificate of credit is for those who possess a cosmetology license who desire to hold the master barber license. The program offers a wide variety of courses that give the student a well-rounded barber educational experience. Courses include the history of barbering, hygiene, life skills, personality, professional ethics and self-management.
The diploma program at Chattahoochee Technical College is designed to be taught over four semesters. In the first semester students take general education classes which includes English, math, computers and psychology. In the second semester students are introduced to courses in which they learn shop management, sterilization and sanitation, anatomy and introduction to cutting. In the third semester students begin to experience the lab setting, where, according to Heath, students get to learn in a setting much like a real barber shop. On this level they learn to cut, shave, color and perform facial treatments on live models. The fourth and final level of the program is where our students perform daily services in our lab. This final level also involves state board preparation.
Heath studied at SamVerly College, a private institution in Atlanta and holds a degree in biblical education from Beulah Heights University, a degree from Kaplan University in teacher education. He is presently working on a master of divinity degree from The Interdenominational Theological Seminary.
“I have taught barbering for 22 years and I recently discovered that some of my former students own barbershops in this area,” he said. “I look forward to working with my former students as advisors on our advisory board. They are doing great things. Whenever I encounter them the best way to describe how I feel is fulfillment. They put air under my wings.”
For more information about this and other programs at Chattahoochee Technical College, visit www.ChattahoocheeTech.edu or call 770-528-4545.