The first year of my Styles For Grades Program to Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield County School students was a wonderful success last year. The program was established in 2009 to reward academic excellence for students in grades K-12 in the Hampton Roads, VA area, where I resided for 10 years. I wanted to do something to reward students for achieving Honor and Scholar Roll during the school year, in hopes that they would be encouraged to continue getting good grades. I became a partner in education with many area schools and was featured on WTKR (Hampton Roads) News Channel 3’s “People Taking Action” segment in January 2011.
Honor and scholar roll recipients received free or discounted services for quarterly submissions of their report cards. Students who maintained honor and/or scholar roll for all 4 quarters received a $50 allotment at the end of the school year to use towards hair services/mobile fees – these are my Presidential Program participants. I also participated in back to school, homecoming, prom, graduation and other events throughout the school year. This year’s back to school “Day of Service” was held on September 1, 2015, where all appointments were for students who displayed a need to receive free haircuts and hair services for back to school. All hair, products and accessories were provided from money set aside from tips and a percentage of revenue collected from paid hair services throughout the year.
In 2012, we moved from the Hampton Roads area back to my hometown in Richmond, VA. It was a difficult transition with the move and with the change from being in a centralized salon to a full time mobile stylist. I made the decision to put the program on hold for the 2013-14 school year. The relaunch and expansion of the program for K-12 students in Richmond City, Henrico County AND Chesterfield County school districts has been such a rewarding experience but we definitely need support to keep the program going and with the overwhelming response from this school year’s first event, now is the perfect time to donate! Complete program details can be found HERE
Since I started the program in 2009, I have been using all of my tips and a small percentage of my earnings to purchase the necessary supplies for participants in the program. I started with about 60 participants in 2009 and have grown to about 327 participants with the ending of the 2014-15 school year, and I anticipate more students will participate with the expansion to the 3 school districts. Please consider donating to the program. Donations assist with hair, supplies, certificates and other miscellaneous expenses for participants in the program; as well as, participation in back to school, prom, graduation, and homecoming events. Donations can be made via PayPal by clicking the link below. All transactions are secure.