TURNERS FALLS — Students from several regional vocational schools visited Turners Falls earlier this month for the annual “Beauty School Battles” cosmetology competition.
The event, which was held at the Ja’Duke Center for the Performing Arts adjacent to the Franklin County Technical School campus, featured cosmetology students from Franklin Tech, McCann Technical School in North Adams, Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School in Palmer, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School in Fitchburg, and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in Northampton.
As part of the event, students brought pre-designed manikin heads that were styled in one of three categories: fantasy, texture and formal. According to a Franklin Tech press release, the designs were judged by a panel of industry professionals, with winners being chosen in each category.
The “Beauty School Battles” event had been canceled for the previous two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, the release states. Franklin Tech started the competition several years ago, and Pathfinder was the first school to join.
“The event has just kept growing, up to the current lineup of the five schools we have this year,” Franklin Tech cosmetology instructor Electra Manley said in the release. “The turnout was terrific this year and we’re so glad to have brought this event back. The students have been a joy to work with, and on behalf of the entire school we thank the other programs for participating and making the event as special as it is.”
The event was emceed by Franklin Tech sophomore Lorenzo Buccaroni, who along with Manley held a question-and-answer session with those in attendance at the start of the event. Students in the crowd were given prizes for answering a variety of questions relating to cosmetology.
“One of the best parts about our cosmetology program is that we get to learn everything there is to know about the industry,” Buccaroni said in the release. “This event is also a great opportunity to meet students from other schools. This type of thing isn’t at all what I was expecting when I joined this program, so to have an event like this really just blows me away.”
Students were treated to live demonstrations by Franklin Tech students in each of the three categories being judged, and then had the opportunity to speak and tell their peers why they chose to study cosmetology and what it means to them.
“We’re all here competing against each other, but really what stands out the most is being able to make new friends and realize that there are so many kids out there who have the same interests as you,” Franklin Tech sophomore Skylar Alamed said in the release. “It’s all about finding your passion and what you love and want to do when you graduate, and being able to interact with your peers like this really helps us do that.”