By: Morgan Humphrey
Books & Braids Salon is coming to Bradie Shrum Elementary. Kala Ponder, one of the elementary school counselors, is the sponsor. This club was created as an outreach group program for all BSE students in two ways.
“The first reason was to guide fifth-grade girls into leadership roles that are impactful to their community,” said Ponder. “The second reason was to make students feel good about coming to school.
“If we can help parents in the morning with their child’s hair, or offer a braid to make a girl smile, we are going to try our best to accomplish that!” said Ponder.
The salon will be open from 7:45-8:15 a.m. Students will tell their teachers they would like to book an appointment. There will be individual time slots, so all attention will go to the student in the chair. Any girl at the elementary school can book an appointment.
The Girls Coalition helped jump-start the project. Along with other donors in the community.
“Thanks to the organization and community partners the Lunch Brunch girls joined forces with the Girls Coalition and came up with the idea to braid hair in the morning and even read a book while it happens,” said Ponder. The Salon will be located in Bradie Shrum’s library.
The Girls Coalition will meet a total of six times. They are already on day four. If the salon has a huge turnout, more dates will become available for students.
“I want the girls to gear up for middle school and start thinking about giving back to their community,” said Ponder.