BRIDGES NEW BEGINNINGS AND COMMUNITY

Since September 2022, students in Lakeland’s inaugural barber certificate class have acquired a range of skills and techniques in hair design, including haircutting, styling, grooming and shaving. All three recent graduates of the fourmonth program agree that the hands-on learning opportunities through labs and working with real clients during public clinic time in the Lloydminster campus student-led salon were a highlight of the program.

Sam Greene, recent graduate, says, “There is this freedom when we work with real clients and put our education to work right away. I had just graduated from high school and worked many jobs, but I started cutting hair for friends during COVID-19 and liked it. I mean, everyone needs a haircut.”

Lakeland’s barber program qualifies graduates to complete Alberta’s barber apprenticeship program. As apprentices, they will need an employer to complete 1,450 hours of on-the-job training before they can write the journeyperson exam. Following the apprenticeship program, they can further their education on the business side by earning a blue seal. Barber graduates can also expand their skills in Lakeland's hairstyling program.

It’s the first year for a bison SMF unit, which means every decision they make is a first for Lakeland and sets up a legacy for future bison SMF units to follow. It’s a responsibility that the five students who make up the first bison SMF unit are intensely aware of.

“It’s been a challenge,” says Ben Schmalzbauer, the nutrition, range and forage and research coordinator on the bison SMF unit and second-year animal science technology (AST) student.

“Being a new unit with a different species, we don’t have anything just laid out in front of us.”

Bailey Ferguson, the bison SMF leader and second-year AST student, agrees, saying, “It’s a very cool feeling to be involved in the first year of the SMF. You get to be a pioneer of the program and create a solid foundation with clear guidelines for the future.”

Whether the students are calculating the nutritional needs of the bison, setting up the paperwork to monitor their progress, or choosing replacement heifers, every decision they make sets the stage for the future.

And for this year’s unit, one of the most important parts of setting up future bison SMF units for success was getting the herd onto campus land.