Beyond the Chair
Beyond the Chair is a community outreach "pampering" program that takes aspiring cosmetologists beyond the classroom and into the workplace. On a weekly basis during the school year, juniors and seniors from Brush High School's Cosmetology Department visit the Cancer Centers at Cleveland Clinic's Family Health Centers. Under the guidance and supervision of a licensed instructor, the students provide heated & non-heated hand & arm massages, facials and warm paraffin hand dips to chemotherapy patients. This hands-on program gives students a wealth of real-world experience and provides patients with a great deal of comfort.
It has proven to be an excellent way to give life to classroom-based theory, and reinforce scientific and mathematical concepts by allowing each participating student to develop their skills in a way not possible with a book and chalkboard. Interaction with a real client allows them to master their communication skills. In addition, some students have "repeat" clientele, an aspect of the real world not easily replicated in the classroom.
This hands-on program has exposed the students to a potential nontraditional employment setting and has reinforced positive attitudes and appropriate work ethics that get lost amidst a classroom of peers. Beyond the Chair is a successful teaching tool and a great service to our patients as well as the community.
Link to South Euclid Lyndhurst School District
Click here to see what the participants have to say in their own words
