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HARLINGEN — Mirna Agado expertly curled the hair of fellow student Desiray Flores.
As a student in the Harlingen school district’s cosmetology program, Agado of course had performed this skill many times. But the curling iron she used to straighten the hair on Desiray, 16, was not the same one she’d used in previous sessions. It was a very new curling iron, an industry standard.
“I think it’s very nice, it’s very modern,” said Mirna, 17, an 11-grader at Harlingen High School South.
Mirna was speaking of the recent work to overhaul the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District CTE Cosmetology Campus at 207 E. Jackson Ave. The overhaul had included painting of the walls, installment of new furniture and a supply of new equipment.
Friday morning, Harlingen city commissioners, members of the Harlingen school board, Supt. J.A. Gonzalez and representatives of the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the makeover of the campus.
“We are celebrating the reopening of our cosmetology class campus,” Gonzalez said. “They can get their certification and then go to the next level which is an associate’s. But with the certification they are ready to go into the workforce and build that relationship.”
That “relationship” will now have a greater foundation at the campus where Belinda Sosa, cosmetology, will teach students like Mirna and Desiray in a more professional setting.
“I feel like I’m able to elevate the level of professionalism that I expect from the students,” Sosa said. “Now they have an environment that matches the level of expectation.”
Before the makeover of the campus, the class was a collage of mismatched furniture that could be distracting to some.
“Now everything looks uniform,” Sosa said. “I like more uniformity, I like clean. It’s about the client, it’s not about everything else going on behind you, and so we try to keep the focus on the clients, and the practice the students are getting from them.”
Not only is the furniture more aesthetically and professionally appealing, the equipment itself is more up to date.
“We have new hair steamers that allow the processing time of color and highlights to go faster,” Sosa said. “We have a new facial bed. The old one we had was almost a hazard. We have new manicure tables that all match and can handle any client.”
Students approved as well, busy at their work stations demonstrating the finer points of hairstyling with new equipment in a studio updated and fresh.
