Barber College offers more than haircuts
Michelle LaRue | 5-13-2010 | Comments |
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Listen to the audio story:Claude Gibson Junior, known to his students as Mr. G, has been running the American Barber College, located on Vermont Ave. and 55th St., for almost 45 years.
“We find a great deal of pleasure in teaching people the art and science of barbering,” says Gibson.
Gibson accepts students into the college who want to learn barbering and teaches them a course that totals 1,500 hours. Students pay him $4.00 an hour to learn.
Shandall Green is a brand new student to the college and is excited to learn barbering. “I’ve been wanting to cut hair since I was 15 years old but never could afford it, but now I’m in the position to afford it and have the time so I’m going to do it now,” says Green.
The college is divided into two rooms, a room where students practice on mannequins or customers, and another room where individual contractors rent a chair and professionally barber. A men’s haircut from a barber is ten dollars and from a student is six dollars.
The cheap rates in the college attract customers of all ages. Gibson says his college helps customers in two ways: it offers a place for students to learn barbering and also provides a place to spiff people up for the work world. Gibson says he loves making money, but also loves the atmosphere of his barber college and the joy he sees it brings students and customers.
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