MCPS students get free fresh haircuts for start of school

Our favorite photos of the week from August 14 to August 20.

This week, elementary students will start the school year with free fresh haircuts and sharp back-to-school outfits after a first-of-its-kind event at Franklin Elementary School organized by several local salons and other groups.

“I feel like all these children should get an opportunity to feel good about themselves going into a new year of school,” owner of Altruist Salon Andi Hardy who helped organize the event said. “And so, this fits just right with looking your best and feeling your best.”

Franklin Elementary second grader Mason Thome, 7, sticks his tongue out as he gets a free back-to-school haircut on Thursday, Aug. 24 from stylist Laurie Grogan, who has been cutting hair in the Missoula area for 37 years. "It's so rewarding to be with these kids and to be able to help out the community," Grogan said.

Some students were brought by parents looking to avoid another cost at the start of the school year while others were there because they couldn’t locate an appointment ahead of time. Some were so grateful for the event, they were near tears, Hardy said.

Hardy said she was wanting to help the community in an effective way as part of her businesses’ mission. From there she started discussing it with Wendy Melvin, a Title 1 teacher at Franklin Elementary who gets her hair cut at Hardy’s salon. The idea was born right there in the salon chair.

“We started just talking while I was getting my hair cut and then it came to this,” Melvin said, gesturing to the linoleum-tile school lobby now filled with barber chairs, body-length mirrors, and hairdressers clipping away at students’ hair. “It’s gone so smoothly. Everybody was organized and we’ve had plenty of help. This is like the best event we’ve ever had.”

Mason Thome, right, 7, picks out an outfit from a donated pile of clothes after getting a free back-to-school haircut at Franklin Elementary School on Thursday. After students got their haircuts they were allowed to pick one new outfit for the school year. This is the first year such an event has taken place at Franklin Elementary.

More than 60 students from Franklin and Hawthorne elementary schools came through Franklin’s school doors during the six-hour event, with the school accepting walk-ins later in the day.

After the haircutting was done, each student got help from members from the University of Montana Griz softball team to shop for an outfit, with clothes donated from Kalispell-based Flathead Industries laid out on tables next to the barbers.

Although the event was planned on relatively short notice with it being announced to parents the week of, Hardy said in the future they could have taken more than 120 participants.

Hawthorne kindergartener Ila Dingmann, 5, gets a free back-to-school haircut from Missoula stylist Megan Villa at Franklin Elementary School on Thursday.

Haircut clients also included custodians and Franklin Elementary principal Greg Harrison. To Harrison’s surprise, he ended up reconnecting with his childhood barber from more than two decades ago. She told him the back of his neck could use a clean-up and sat him down in the barber chair.

“I’m so impressed with how generous everyone is to do this for the community,” Harrison said. “We always try to figure out ways to bring the community in. That’s the most important part honestly: to find ways to get everybody here, because ultimately this is a community school.”

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Our favorite photos of the week from August 14 to August 20.

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