Salon and spa services available to local community
HERKIMER – During a recent class, Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Cosmetology student Kamryn Koch gave a 90-degree layered haircut to Herkimer resident Carolyn Walker.
This was part of the Cosmetology program’s clinic that allows students to gain experience providing salon and spa services to members of the local community.
Koch, a senior of Little Falls City School District, said the clinic is beneficial to her as she prepares to pursue a career in the industry.
“It’s great,” Koch said. “It’s definitely different from working with a mannequin. It feels more real. We feel more responsible.”
The clinic, named Salon Illusions, is open to community members by appointment only from 8:45-11 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the Herkimer BOCES William E. Busacker Complex at 352 Gros Blvd. in Herkimer. To make an appointment or for information, call 315-867-2043.
Customers from school and the local community are invited to receive services including cuts, coloring, perms, manicures, pedicures, waxing and more from Cosmetology program seniors under the supervision of Cosmetology instructor Holly Rotundo Fischer and teaching assistant Sarah Jacquays-Alberts.
All school and salon COVID-19 requirements are followed for the clinic (including the need to wear masks inside at schools regardless of vaccination status). The low prices of the services are used to offset the costs of putting on the clinic.
The teachers and students are excited about starting the clinic this fall, which is when it traditionally begins. COVID-19 and the closing of schools caused the clinic to get cut short in the 2019-20 school year, and the need to catch up on skills delayed the start of the clinic to March in the 2020-21 school year.
“We’re happy to be starting in the fall and getting them as much time as we can – through June – to work with customers,” Rotundo Fischer said.
The chance to work with people from the community is a valuable experience for students, who otherwise work on mannequins, Rotundo Fischer said.
“They need as much real-life work as they can get to practice their skills to work in a salon,” Rotundo Fischer said. “I’m always telling them, ‘Mannequins aren’t going to walk into your salon and ask for a haircut.’”
Koch said she wasn’t completely sure about pursuing a career in the field before taking the Cosmetology class, but the class helped her decide that she definitely wants to. The clinic helps her gain experience interacting with and doing work for customers.
“It’s amazing,” Koch said. “I love it.”
Cosmetology senior RoseMarie Acker, of Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District, said she was happy the clinic started.
“It’s really beneficial,” Acker said. “You’re not working on just mannequins. You’re doing work for people from the community.”
Acker plans to pursue a career in the industry and is particularly interested in coloring. The clinic helps her prepare for her career goals, she said.
“It gives better experience – more practice on real people,” she said.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Cosmetology student Kamryn Koch, a senior of Little Falls City School District, gives a 90-degree layered haircut to Herkimer resident Carolyn Walker on Wednesday, Nov. 10, as part of the Cosmetology program’s clinic. The clinic allows students to gain experience providing salon and spa services to members of the local community. To make an appointment or for information, call 315-867-2043.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Cosmetology student RoseMarie Acker, a senior of Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District, washes out a mannequin’s hair in class Wednesday, Nov. 10, after the class’s clinic. The clinic allows students to gain experience providing salon and spa services to members of the local community. To make an appointment or for information, call 315-867-2043.