West Side High School offers the first and only high school cosmetology program in Idaho

Alaina Telford is enrolled in a cosmetology class at Beutler Middle School in Dayton, ID. There are 13 other students learning how to perm hair on Wednesday Feb. 10.

DAYTON ID – Alaina Telford carefully combs the hair of her cosmetology training head during class at Beutler Middle School in Dayton, Idaho. She is working on her assignment learning how to perm hair.

West Side and Preston high school students work on their hair styling skills at Beutler Middle School in Dayton, ID Wednesday, Feb. 10.

There are 14 students enrolled in this first year of the cosmetology program sponsored by West Side High School and SEITech, or Southeastern Idaho Technical Charter School.

The beauty school is a two-year high school program that transfers to other similar schools and colleges. It is the first one of its kind in the Gem State.

“When I’m finished here,” said Telford, a senior at West Side High School, “I want to go to Evans Hairstyling College in Rexburg and finish there.”

Marisa Clawson, a West Side High School junior, wants to finish the program next year and attend a program offered at Idaho State University in Pocatello.

“I save $10 an hour for every hour I’m here,” she said.

Brooklyn Loveday said she wants to finish at Paul Mitchel Beauty School in Logan.

Instructor Lisa Barnard, a hair professional that owns her own solon business, said she’s been teaching hair and beauty technique for 23 years said it is a competitive program.

Students who want to enroll in the program must apply, be interviewed and have a good GPA,” she said. “For our first year we accepted 14 students and we turned about that many away.”

Barnard said half of the students are from Preston High School and the other are West Side High School students. Next year they hope to get a few students from Malad High School. But the 40-mile journey from Malad may be a problem for those students.

Ashley White, the West Side High School SEITec coordinator, said the program is quite unique.

West Side High School and SEITech sponsor a cosmetology program for high school students.

“We thought about busing the students to Bridgerland in Brigham City,” she said. “But it would take too long and be too expensive so we set one up here.”

She wasn’t sure the exact date when SEITec was formed, but it has helped a lot of students.

“I think it was back in 2007 and 2008 when there was a budget crisis, the district administrators from Preston, West Side and Malad decided to help technical programs that were being cut,” she said. “Programs that helped students get into college were being supported and technical programs were not.”

The three high schools formed a charter school and Racheal Madsen was named the administrator. She works out of the Malad School District.

We are trying to get out the narrative that students don’t have to go to college to be successful,” White said. “If they want to go to college that’s great. Going to trade schools has value to some students and they don’t have to go into a lot of debt to get an education.”

All of the SEITec classes are part of their high school experience and do not cost the students or their parents’ extra cash. Some of the programs offer certificates.

Students from any of the three high schools can enroll in any of the programs offered at any of the schools.

White listed the programs offered at the different SEITech-sponsored schools. One of the most valuable parts of the program is SEITech works hand-in-hand with local businesses and industry. For some of the students when they graduate and get a certificate they can go right to work.

The following is a list of classes offered through the program and at which high school:

Preston

Ag Power Systems

Greenhouse Mgmt

Sports Med

EMT

CNA

Graphic Design

Accounting

Electronics

Family & Consumer Science

Automated Mfg

Cabinet Making

Automotive Technology

 

West Side

Ag Power Systems

EMT

CNA

Information Technology

Business Management

 

Malad

Automotive Technology

EMT

CNA

Ag Power Systems

Ag Business

Family & Consumer Science

Video Broadcasting

Automated Manufacturing

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