This past weekend, cosmetology students put their skills at creating bob haircuts and fades to the test.

Students in the cosmetology program have participated in the Great Clips Competition for Cosmetology on Sunday, March 8.

Students completed two haircuts and one style on one mannequin. The first haircut was a messy choppy bob cut. The style was judged. In the second haircut, participants got to choose a blended fade of their choice.

Senior Alece Evanto placed second in the competition out of 25 other competitors. And she won $750 as a prize.

“With the money, I’m going to use it for college next year,” Evanto said.

As they were being judged, the students were given points during each section. This included points for hair sections taken, following the jawline, and length. Additional points were given for overall look, style and the use of tools to create the style.

“The competition took around five hours. When I won, I felt very accomplished and happy, but during the competition, I felt a lot of pressure and both of my parents came to watch,” Evanto said.

Other students who participated were senior Ava Weirtz, Veronica Ball and Macy Smith.

“Our teacher asked the class if we wanted to compete and me and my friend both wanted to compete together,” Ball said.

Every Wednesday, the Great Clips representative, Miranda Westfall came to GlenOak to help students practice the haircuts and to show the students how to do their haircuts.

“My favorite part is that I get to compete with my friend and my family gets to watch. My favorite part of the competition are the haircuts we did an angled bob and a fade of our choice. The hardest part of the competition is the stress and worrying that I was going to forget how to do something,” Ball said

During the competition, Great Clips provided mannequins, tripods, combs, brushes, water bottles and towels while the contestants provided shears, thinning shears, clippers and clipper guards, blow dryers, products of choice, hot tools of choice, razors, clips, sanitizer and sanitation equipment.

This is the third year the cosmetology program has participated in the Great Clips competition. While the competition is different than the state board, instructors feel it still helps students prepare for the board test.

“It helps them prepare for the pressure (of state board testing) because they’re being timed (during the competitions and during the state board),” cosmetology teacher Devasha Baker said.