Students from the Barbering program at CGTC continued a tradition of community involvement, taking part in the 9th Annual Steve Harvey Mentoring Camp for Young Men in June, for a second consecutive year.

Participating in the mentoring camp is the result of a networked relationship between instructor, Leon Towles and Steve Harvey’s barber, James Thomas, who developed the idea to bring together their barbering teams from Warner Robins and Texas, respectively.

Towles said he thought his students did very well in providing haircuts and mentorship in 2016, so participating again was the right thing to do.

“These students continued to provide haircuts and encouragement for over 220 fatherless boys at the Rock Ranch,” he said.

The mentoring camp took place over Father’s Day weekend with a specific reason behind it.

“The goal is to give the fatherless boys several “dads” for a couple of days through the process of mentorship,” Towles said. “Community leaders, military personnel, businessmen, and barbers all serve as mentors during the camp.”

The Mentoring Camp, held at Rock Ranch in The Rock, Ga., is a four-day, three-night interactive program with the sole purpose of sharing and teaching principles of manhood and dream building to young men. The program helps young men realize their potential, and envision a future where they are physically and emotionally equipped, responsible young men.

Haircuts are provided throughout the event to promote the importance of appearance.

Barbering is a live-work program at CGTC. It means that students are required to perform the duties of their career in a lab, or work setting on customers. The program often takes their work outside of the lab, having participated in this camp, back-to-school events, and other outreaches.