Monday is traditionally a day off for those in the business of cutting hair, but the library at Howe Elementary was abuzz yesterday as an ad hoc barbershop.
Barbers for the Future is the nonprofit brainchild of Mayra Quintanilla of Platinum Kutz. One of her clients there is Howe’s first-year PE teacher Ben Krieg and when she was cutting his hair recently Mayra asked if BFTF could come to Howe and give away some free trims. Krieg carried the request to principal Trent Williams who loved the idea. When permission slips went home, so did enough Howe parents to keep Mayra and three of her colleagues busy/buzzy for two hours designing zig-zags and fades on almost 20 heads and putting smiles on as many faces.
All of the coiffure professionals, not incidentally, are DMPS alums. Mayra attended Brooks and Longfellow elementary schools, Callanan Middle School and Roosevelt High School before graduating from high school in Nebraska. Jesus Avila and Deion Evans graduated from East in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and Shae Jones is Roosevelt, Class of 2006.
Mayra said Monday’s session at Howe was #4 for her squad and it won’t be the last.
“We’ve done this at Monroe (Elementary) three times and we’ll be at Harding (Middle School) on March 30,” she said. “Haircuts cost money and I can remember sometimes having to cut my own hair when I was a kid. This is a way for us to give back.”
Barbers for the Future has a Facebook page and plans for expansion. Mayra is coordinating with the Boys & Girls Clubs to keep the free cuts coming throughout the summer months. The group is also part of the annual Back 2 School Bash sponsored by the Grubb YMCA where kids stock up on classroom supplies and get their smartest look on before starting a new year.
At Howe, the in-house barbershop is just the latest step for an increasingly full-service school. In fact, the Vision to Learn van was on-site at the same time as the barbers, measuring students for free eyeglasses that will be delivered in the spring when a mobile dental clinic is also scheduled to visit. Last fall we reported on the food pantry making its first regular stop at Howe. The school’s 100th year has been one of its biggest yet.
Principal Williams sports a shaved head so he wasn’t in line at the library when Mayra & Co. showed up with their toolkits like a quartet of doctors out making house calls. He was in and out, beaming from the sidelines at the before-and-after looks of Mario, Quone, Malachi and DJ, et al.
“This is beautiful to see,” he said. “All of these barbers, DMPS grads, coming back to help the kids growing up behind them is just awesome.”
When Deion finished his last head and removed his customer’s cape, the good-looking boy stood up from the stool where he’d sat motionless and grim-faced while getting worked upon. After a look in the mirror he was handed, he grinned and stuck out his hand. Deion grinned too, and accepted a tip like no other.
