The Socorro Independent School District’s barbering program is grooming students for success after high school.
In April, students Omar De La Torre and Jason Betancourt became the program’s first two licensed barbers after passing the Texas Barber State Board exam. They also are among the first cohort of 10 barber students to graduate from the program in June.
“I knew that they were going to do great!” said Nancy Mestas, barber instructor at Legacy Barbershop at Socorro High School. “We had been practicing because I do prep them here, and I’m like, ‘Guys, you’re ready! I’m not worried at all.’”
Socorro ISD is the first and only school district to have a barber school in West Texas, Mesta said.
Opened in 2021, Legacy Barbershop is a two-year state licensure program offered through the SISD Career and Technical Education program that prepares students to be work-ready for the barbering field. Students can graduate with a Class A barbering license and learn how to market their skills and create their own portfolios.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said De La Torre, who started working as a licensed barber at Inn the Cutt Barbershop soon after passing his exam. “I know outside of this class, and outside of SISD, without this opportunity, I don’t know if I would’ve been a barber, to be honest.”
Betancourt, a senior at Eastlake High School, has been working at Heavy’s Barbershop since April. He started cutting his family members’ hair during the pandemic when all the salons and barbershops were closed, and he jumped at the opportunity to start SISD’s barbering program his junior year in high school. Now that he is a licensed barber, Betancourt has high hopes for his barbering career.
“I like doing haircuts and designs,” Betancourt said. “I want to go to the University of Texas at El Paso, and I want to study business for my future. Eventually after working for a few years, I want to open my own barbershop, maybe even a barber college.”
From cutting, braiding, and fading hair to facial shaving and manicures, students learn a range of barbering services in the 300-credit hour program to help them compete for jobs in the real world. They sharpen their skills practicing on mannequin heads and on each other’s hair in the program’s custom-built barbershop at Socorro High School.
“I want them to be an all-around barber,” said Mestas, who has taught cosmetology and barbering for 15 years and has worked as a hairstylist for 18 years. “One advantage is that they are being taught by a cosmetology teacher, so I’m teaching them both. I have my barber’s license, too. I keep telling them it’s more money in your pocket.”
Since the program is free, De La Torre said he has saved a lot of money that he otherwise would have spent on barber college. Students pay a fee for their barber student permit and invest in their barber kit, which includes supplies and tools, such as sheers, clippers, a shaver and more. Transportation is also provided to students from other high schools to attend the barbering program at Socorro.
Mestas helped De La Torre and Betancourt prepare for the barber state board exam, which they passed on the first try. The two-part exam consists of a written and practical portion. De La Torre took the written part of the exam before Betancourt, but they took the practical exam together.
“It feels good,” Betancourt said about passing the exam. “I was really surprised. It took a long time to get here. All that studying that we had to do. It was a really hard test, but two years in the program, it was worth it.”
Mestas expects all 10 of her graduating students to have their Class A barbering license by the time they graduate in June. She is excited about the successful legacy that her first graduating class is leaving for future barbering students.
“It made me feel really proud and really happy that I’m part of the legacy,” Mestas said. “We’re getting started, and we’re getting movement, and we’re getting traction. And a lot of people are hearing about us, and (the students) are doing great. I’ve been getting a lot of barbershops reaching out to me to let them know once (the students) are licensed to bring them over.”
Published May 18, 2023