High school students who’ve accrued hundreds of hours experience with hair design and barbering skills on mannequins and friends need to practice their skills on real heads of adult hair.

“We have to reach 1,200 hours to license, but most of us get our license right as we graduate,” Riverton High School senior Natalie Roberds said. “A lot of people have been super kind to come in and let us practice.”

She said working on people’s hair is her favorite part of the hair design and barbering program at Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers, where she takes two classes each day.

“I love the hands-on experience,” Roberds said. “We don't just sit in the classroom and do book work—we do have the days for that—but most of the time we're in the salon actually working on people or doing mannequin work. That's my favorite part.”

Program instructor Dacia Peterson said students get a lot of practice doing their friends’ hair and sometimes even pull students out of other JATC classes to practice on, but said that they are in need of more experience with other hair types and styles to become well-rounded professionals.

“Teens are not the number one demographic they will be working with,” she said. 

Peterson would like to see older adults take advantage of the early morning barbering hours so students get more experience with adult hair styles and working with thinning and receding hair challenges.

JATC Vice Principal Stewart Hudnall is a regular client at the shop because he enjoys supporting his students but also because they do a good job.

“I am consistently impressed by the professionalism and growing skills of the students,” he said. “The instructors create an excellent, supervised learning environment, and it is rewarding to see the students' confidence and talents develop with each visit. It's more than just a haircut for me; it's about contributing to their education and helping them prepare for their future.”

Hudnall believes the barbershop and hair salon are a valuable asset to the community, not only because they provide training opportunities for students, but also because they offer more affordable hair services for members of the community.

Haircuts and hair styling appointments are $8 and a shave is $10.

“It’s way cheap because we are students, and they have to have their risk of us being students,” Roberds said. “But we have teachers to help us, so we're going to give them the service they need.” 

She said students are taught to work carefully so the service may take a little longer.

“There's a lot of different ways you can cross check and, like, make sure your work is good, so they've been really good at teaching us those type of things,” Roberds said.

Riverton High School senior Daphne Brown said clients can expect to get a quality haircut.

“Since it's our second year, and the first year we learned so much, that now I'm like, ‘Okay, I can do any of it,’” she said. “Teachers are always there to help us fix things, so nothing's ever gone terribly wrong.”

Additional services offered by students include deep conditioning, scalp treatment, braiding, coloring and other chemical services.

The barber shop is open Monday - Thursday 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for appointments and walk-ins.

Hair services (including coloring) at the barber shop and hair salon are available Tuesday - Thursday afternoons and evenings by appointment only.

The barbershop and hair salon are located on the second floor of the JATC South Campus, 12723 S. Park Avenue in Riverton. Appointments can be scheduled by phone at 801-412-1324 or email at [email protected].