The Teacher

Angela Alexander, known by students as Ms. A, got her start in hair by practicing it herself. In a photo from 1982, Ms. A is cutting and styling hair. Photo creds: Alexander.

Carrie Bradbury, Review Desk Lead

"If I could still stand behind the chair, I would still cut hair because that's what I love," said Alexander. "Now, I love color, and I love perms, and all the things that go with it, but I love to cut me some hair."

For Watauga High School teacher Ms. A, hair is not just a hobby, it's her life. From growing up cutting hair to being the sole teacher of Watuaga's cosmetology program, Ms. A has lived her whole life behind the styling chair. By finding her passion at such a young age, Ms. A has been able to refine her skills by going the through the Cosmetology program when she was in high school, and has now returned to teach the next generation.

"I'm one of the proteges from here. I knew this was what I wanted to do from the time I was seven years old. And so to be able to take this program, for free and license," said Alexander. "I've worked in hair salons,
I've owned my own salon, I've worked for other people, and now I get to teach."

The recent budget cuts have hit the cosmetology program hard and forced Ms. A to change her classroom dynamic. From letting anyone and everyone into the program, students will now be selected by a computer to be allowed to continue the program. This change doesn't just affect the students, but has also had a great effect on Ms. A. 

"They were gonna take that Cosmetology one class down to seven students. That really changes the projector of the program. They're gonna let a computer basically pull a lottery and decide who of the 29 gets to come back here," said Alexander. "I have some kids, when we start a cosmic program, I can usually tell by the time I get them on the floor and watch them a couple of times, the students that need to remain in here, and the students that don't."

Cosmetology is a mostly self-run program where the students take the lead on their own practice after learning the basics from Ms. A. Therefore, there are strict rules about the number of students that can be under her supervision at one time for the class to still run as it's supposed to. By taking away the selection process from Ms. A and putting it into a computer, the career path of many of these students is being completely uprooted. 

"Even though they might be here in the same block, we could have forty students if we have two teachers," said Alexander. "So basically how I ended up being the only teacher for this year was we could not find anybody, no instructors applied. One withdrew her application because of the money, and the other one was not licensed in the state of North Carolina. So, therefore, that was the end of it."

Providing students with ample opportunities to experiment with different subjects is one of the things that makes Watuaga High School so special compared to other high schools in the state of North Caroline. The CTE program encompasses the most popular trade careers and provides students with the needed skills to thrive in their chosen career. Being able to try one year of Cosmetology before deciding to peruse it is part of the key benefits of this program and what makes the students successful. 

"Cos one, it's kind of one of those where people, they get interested, they want to try it, and then after the first year, they're like, 'this is not what I want to do', because they realize they're not good at it or for whatever reason," said Alexander. "And so we lose approximately 50% of those students."

A change in the number of students in the Cosmetology program and an added sense of competition between students over who can move on, puts pressure on the entire classroom. 

"It's not just my Cos one students that have been upset," said Alexander. "It's the entire class across the board.”

It is Ms. A's goal to ease this sense of competition and stress amoungst her students by encouraging them to communicate directly to Watuag High School Principal Dr. Stickler about their concerns for the program and their spot within it.

"And I told Dr. Strickler that morning, and I said, 'I'm putting you guys'emails on my board, because I'm not gonna be the one to have to give a reason, because it's not my reason'. I mean, I cried, I begged, I pleaded, I did everything. And they just won't listen," said Alexander.

An idea that has been suggested to solve the issue of budget cuts is for students to look outside of Watauag for a Cosmetology education. The biggest issue with this idea is that learning the skills necessary for a career in cosmetology require hands- on practice and cannot be completed in an online learning environment. If acceptance into the free program at the high school is limited, some kids will be forced into the private sector, where their education will no longer be free.

"Unfortunately, we are a rural area. 
There are lots of kids that couldn't afford to go in school, they just can't," said Alexander.
"And so this gets them free education, and they can go out here and make 50, 60, $70,000 a year (after graduating)."

Looking to the future, one of Ms. A's biggest concerns is what a budget cut might do to the program's survival. Finding a second teacher will eventually become necessary, and having them equipped with the proper experiences necessary for leading this class will soon become an even greater challenge. 

"But, you know, I'm not gonna work forever. 
And if they have somebody here, then at least that person's gonna have a little bit of familiarity with the program. And who it is can step into my shoes," said Alexander. "I don't ever want to see this program go away."