The William Floyd High School Barbering Academy unveils a brand-new social media video series called “Undefined”. Staff members from the William Floyd School District will get a free haircut while being interviewed in the high school barbershop.
Appearing on the show so far are William Floyd High School assistant principal Brian Kennedy, Marine & Motorsports teacher Vincent Porcelli, technology teacher Paul Vassallo and Culinary Arts teacher Rich Daly.
The video series was inspired by popular social media creator Victor Fontanez, a celebrity barber, entrepreneur and motivational speaker, who under the handle VicBlends, offers free haircuts to random individuals he meets and interviews them.
Barbering Academy instructor Cara Cliffe and high school assistant principal Robert Felicetta decided to put a William Floyd spin on this viral concept. Their casual and fun interviews with staff will highlight the Barbering Academy while at the same time spreading positive messages through the community.
“I’ve learned so much about my coworkers while using them as live demonstrations and giving them haircuts that I found myself saying, “I wish students were able to know them like this, because they could be walking past a potential role model or missing out on establishing a connection based on shared experiences and interests,” said Ms. Cliffe.
This newly-created video series also needed a great title to go along with it. Much thought was put into the title as more than 40 people from across the district were consulted, with each being asked to try and describe William Floyd High School in one word.
“There were so many amazing answers, but all conversations followed the same theme…the evolution of William Floyd High School and the reputations we’ve been given are so hard to capture in a single phrase – hence, we are undefined.” As part of the ‘undefined’ theme, each guest who appears on the show is asked to elaborate on what being undefined means to them.
William Floyd students play a big role in helping choose the show’s guests leaving suggestions on the Barbering Academy Instagram page. Students also helped choose a logo for the series through a vote among the Barbering classes.
Although Ms. Cliffe is currently featured as the show’s host and barber, she hopes her students will soon take on that responsibility to help increase their confidence as barbers and as communicators.
“My goal is to create a space where CTE Barbering students feel comfortable asking clients (of any age) the questions I’ve asked in past,” said Ms. Cliffe. “The barbershop environment is culturally universal and all it takes is one introduction or conversation to build a barber’s confidence and a client’s trust in them.”
“Our hope is to give students an insight into the lives of many different people that they encounter daily and let them know how different we all are, but, how we all are here now in the same space,” said Mr. Felicetta.
To see episodes of “Undefined,” follow the William Floyd Barbering Academy on Instagram.