School launches new, student-led barber, beauty salon

By Breana Ross

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    GAMBRILLS, Maryland (WBAL) — A young barber is using his experience to break barriers for his classmates while inspiring a new generation.

Jaylen McDaniel was excited to be among the first students to get a new haircut at the new barbershop at Arundel High School.

“I never thought we would have a barbershop at school or any of the schools that I’ve gone to, but they made it happen, and I’m thankful for that,” McDaniel told 11 News.

The barber behind the chair is McDaniel’s classmate, Jaiden Martin.

“That’s my first time letting a student cut my hair, so I was nervous at first,” McDaniel told 11 News.

Martin may be young, but he is no stranger to barbering. When 11 News first interviewed Martin in March, he cut hair with his own chair at Kendrick’s Barbershop in Odenton, where he gained experience while completing the Barber Internship Project.

The program is a partnership between the Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation and Kendrick’s Barbershop to train young barbers. That experience inspired Martin to use what he learned to serve his school by opening the first-ever Arundel Barber and Beauty Salon.

“It really is like a dream come true,” Martin, an Arundel senior, said. “It is surreal for me personally because I’ve never seen this.”

Arundel’s shop is fully funded and fully equipped, thanks to Robert Cradle, a master barber and the CEO of Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation. Cradle pays Martin and the other barbers and beauticians so students can get their hair styled for free.

“Students have to come to school, so just making life easier for students who may not be able to get to another place, or for parents who are working after school hours, transportation, just having it here just cuts out a lot of those barriers,” Kimberly Winterbottom, Arundel’s principal, said.

It’s an effort to cut out barriers so students can look and feel their best.

“When I got it my first time, I had so much confidence the first time it happened. I felt very amazed with Jaiden giving me a haircut,” James Barefoot, an Arundel junior, said.

“A lot of students come in here. We have a need for grooming services, and I don’t want to just be giving out average haircuts just because it is a need,” Martin told 11 News. “I want to be giving out professional cuts and just cuts that are going to boost everybody’s confidence up, make everybody feel good.”

It’s not just about making people feel good with a fresh cut. It’s also about giving them fresh perspective on a potential career.

“Just seeing it every day, seeing a student operate something like this every day, I think, will inspire other students, seeing that it’s possible,” Cradle said.

“It’s very inspiring to see one of my other students cutting hair,” Barefoot told 11 News. “It makes me kind of want to get into the haircutting industry.”

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