Free Cuts Send Students Back In Style

Tamia Massey usually spends more than $200 getting her two daughters’ hair braided at the start of every back-to-school season. 

This year was different — thanks to one of a host of community-led events focused on helping families cut costs as students prepare to return to the classroom.

Massey’s daughters were two of a dozen New Haven students to get their hair silk pressed for free Monday morning at a back-to-school event hosted by the Cowboys Nation Worldwide football club at Only 1 Touch Beauty Shop at 631 Middletown Ave.

They were also just one of more than 100 families to participate in community-led, school-prep events that took place on opposite ends of the city Monday. 

One such event offered free haircuts at the barbershop on Middletown Avenue in Quinnipiac Meadows, and the other — organized by Alders Honda Smith and Richard Furlow — offered free haircuts, bookbags, books, and other school supplies at The Shack community center on Valley Street in West Hills.

Both events took place exactly a week to the day before New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) first day of classes of the 2022 – 2023 school year on Aug. 29. 

"They're Worth It, & They Deserve To Look Nice"

Out at Only 1 Touch Beauty Shop on Middletown Avenue, the Cowboys Nation Worldwide football club was to thank for the day of free hair care for 20 young boys and girls.

Massey heard about the event from her daughters’ summer camp at Harris and Tucker School in Newhallville.

Usually Massey pays at least $250 to get both of her daughters’ hair braided for the first day of school. While working two jobs, Massey said, she’s struggled in the past with finding the time and money to get her daughters prepped for school. 

“They’ve been asking for silk presses,” she said. ​“This couldn’t have come at a better time.” 

A transplant from Tennessee, Massey said she also struggles to find hair shops in New Haven that can do her daughters’ hair without causing damage. She was excited to be introduced to the Middletown Avenue beauty shop that focuses on caring for Black natural hair. 

This year Massey’s twins Tamya and Kameena will start second grade at Highville Charter School.

Tamya was the first student in Jackson’s chair Monday. 

After getting through the hard part of sitting still in the beauty chair, the duo couldn’t hide their smilies about the final products.

As each student left Jackson’s chair, they flicked their newly flat-ironed styles from side to side, as their hair grazed their shoulders.

Organizing members of the Cowboys Nation Worldwide club included president Kevin Wormley, treasurer Natasha Bridgett, and Vice President Jeff Kane. 

This year’s football club-hosted back to school event partnered not just with Only 1 Touch Beauty Shop on Middletown Avenue, but also with the Hamden Barber Shop. 

LaTonya Jackson, a New Haven native and owner of Only 1 Touch, typically closes her shop on Mondays. 

But in an effort to support local families looking to get their students ready for this school year, Jackson and her staff of four opened shop Monday morning for the free hairstyling giveaway. Owner of Hamden Barber Shop Gregory Rambert also provided free haircuts for students at the event. 

“It’s nothing for me to give a haircut,” Rambert said. ​“If it makes them feel better, do better, and feel better, then I’ll do it.”

Rising seventh and fifth graders Amonee, 12, and Makayla, 10, sat eagerly in the shop’s waiting chairs with their hair prepped and ready to be flat-ironed by Jackson. 

“I can’t wait because my hair is going to be a little bit long but not too long,” said Makayla. 

Amonee expressed some nervousness about getting her hair done because she described herself as ​“tender headed.” 

The duo agreed that they are both most excited to meet their new teachers this school year. Amonee, who plans to be a nurse in the future, said she spent the summer reading and journaling to practice her penmanship. 

Jackson’s shop is staffed by herself and five local teens whom she mentors. She trains her staff in working with a variety of hair types. 

Four of the teens helped Jackson prep the students’ hair Monday with a wash and deep conditioning treatment. 

While Jackson has 10 years of professional experience doing hair, she said the Monday event put her and her team to work. 

“They all have a whole lot of hair,” she said. 

Jackson decided to offer the students silk presses to check out the health of their hair, she said. ​“A silk press give me the chance to see how healthy their hair is and start with a healthy style for school,” she said. 

Jackson agreed with Massey that there is a lack of Black hair shops that focus on helping clients keep their hair healthy. Her shop has been working on filling that gap in New Haven for the past eight years. 

While washing 10-year-old Kamiah’s hair, I’men Jackson, 18, shared her own excitement about starting school with her clients. Jackson is starting her senior year at New Haven Academy this year. 

She plans to attend cosmetology school after graduation to make a career out of doing hair and nails. 

I’men prepped each of the clients’ hair with a wash, condition, and blow dry for Jackson, her step-mother, to do the silk press on each of them. 

The football club was established in 2018 and integrates community service into its love for the Dallas Cowboys football team. 

“Not only do we want to watch the games but we want to do for the less fortunate,” Bridgett said. 

Over the years the club has done food and clothing giveaways on the Green downtown, sponsored athletic teams, and hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas events for families. 

While some got their hair washed and others blow dried, Wormley made a delivery of pizza for the kids to enjoy while waiting for their turns. 

At the Monday event, the Cowboys club paid for 10 girls and 10 boys to get haircuts and silk presses to prepare for their first day of school. 

“Especially with Covid a lot of people are in more debt and want to send their kids back to school looking nice but it can’t be at the top of their list because they have to take care of the home,” Bridgett said. ​“But they’re worth it and deserve to look nice.”

The Barbershop Comes To The Shack

On the other side of town in West Hills on Monday, West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith and Amity/Westville/Beaver Hills Alder and Majority Leader Richard Furlow hosted a back-to-school giveaway for families to collect free backpacks filled with school supplies. The event also offered free haircuts of each student’s choice from Headz Up and Best Choice Barbershops.

In the Shack’s entertainment room students picked out backpacks for the school year and filled them with notebooks, folders, a ruler, flashcards, colored pencils and crayons, and pencils. 

“It’s so heavy,” first grader Aiden said to his grandmother Tanya Solomon who heard about the event from Smith. 

Solomon, who lives in Westville Manor, also brought her other grandsons Anthony, who will be going to the third grade, and Marque, who is going to be in pre-K4, to Monday’s event. 

In a second room, local barbers set up five barber chairs, a table of clippers, and a banner reading ​“Headz Up Barbershop” to bring the barbershop to the community. 

The event at the Shack was made possible through community donations of supplies over the past week. 

Retired police officer Quinton Mcarthur grilled up hotdogs and hamburgers for visitors throughout the day. 

Smith hosts seasonal and daily programming at the Shack for the West Hills/West Rock community. 

In addition to picking up school supplies Monday, Sandra Dill’s two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter picked out books to add to their home library. 

Sixth-grader Destinee, 11, said she wasn’t looking forward to the school year because of the many essays she’s been promised to have by teachers. 

Janae, 8, who is going to the third grade, and Riley, 4, who is going to kindergarten, each said they are excited to see their friends at school.