Tammy Marshall, the cosmetology instructor and a first-year teacher at CCTI, was invited to speak to the board on how her first year went. Marshall brought one of her students, Carlos Lopez Rodriguez.

“It’s definitely been a fast and busy year,” Marshall shared. “There’s been so much going on throughout the year. I was blessed in that my class was 100% full.”

“We started our clinical work right after Labor Day. That wasn’t how it normally was done. The problem was, I had students at home for about a year and a half, learning online. In the cosmetology work, that’s great; you can talk all you want and read all you want; but, putting your hands on people’s hair and doing what you have to do, that’s how students learn. So we went into the clinical work right away.”

Another problem that Marshall observed is that, after having the salon closed for two years, they no longer had the regular clientele who used to come to the school to have work done.

“It was a battle of rebuilding,” Marshall said. “I am very happy to say that our clinic has picked up greatly. There will be some changes for next year, because my students will need more theory time. And for the ninth-graders who are now 10th-graders, they will be ready for clinical time, so we need to schedule them.”

The Cosmetology Department does a lot of community service as well. The past two years have been difficult due to COVID. But more groups are coming to the clinic and special group rates.

Marshall also indicated that she hopes to offer an open house, a Spa Night. She heard from a lot of people requesting evening and summer hours.

The classroom is getting two new dryers and new styling chairs, and will start a new textbook, which will include an online version of the book. It will help students who need extra help; plus, now that snow days are really no longer snow days, students will be able to use the online textbooks when studying from home.

Carlos Lopez Rodriguez is a cosmetology student at CCTI and spoke of his experiences.

“I really enjoyed it. Ms. Marshall kept the class going; there wasn’t a moment to sit down. She kept the class upbeat and enjoyable. We did a lot … we went over things like hair cutting, waxing, pedicures, manicures and hair coloring.”