01/22/2020
This is a very cool program!
SANFORD BARBER OFFERS DISCOUNT FOR KIDS THAT READ ALOUD WHILE THEY GET THEIR HAIRCUT:
Little Joseph came into the barbershop for one reason: the kid's mohawk. It's almost second-grade picture day, and he wants to look good. He hops up onto an antique swivel chair and asks his barber for the new 'do.
"It's high on the top and short on the bottom, and lines that go in a diagonal line where the top is gonna be," explains the 7-year-old.
Joseph came for the mohawk, but his dad, James, chose this barbershop over all the others in Central Florida — living in a a working-class suburb just outside Orlando, FL — for a different reason. At The Sanford Barber, kids get a $2 discount if they read a book aloud to their barber.
" You know, maybe someday some kid will grow up and be a journalist, be a writer, and he'll say, 'You know what, when I was young, my barber used to make me read,' " says The Sanford Barber.
"It's an amazing thing," James says. "It's helping my pockets, it's helping their education, and it's helping prepare a better future for them, so I love it."
This program made its way to Sanford, FL because of June, who has been cutting mohawks, fades and tapers here for over 20 years. He says he first read about a similar literacy program in Harlem, N.Y., so he began to replicate it. Within a few weeks, people in the area were donating books to the cause.
"We get complimented by teachers that will say, 'It does so much for these kids throughout the school year,' " he says.
You can find similar programs all over the country, from Houston, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa.
But here at The Sanford Barber, it's not just enough to read the book out loud. Kids, The Sanford Barber explains, get quizzed by their barber to make sure they understand what they read.
Joseph picks "We're Going on a Lion Hunt" from a stack of books piled on top of two tables in the waiting room.
"We're going on a lion hunt," he reads. "We're going to catch a big one. We're not scared, been there before."
Meanwhile, James encourages his younger son, Joziah, to pick a book while they wait for his turn.
"Hey, Bud, pick out a book that's gonna challenge you, nothing too easy. All right?"
Georgio Pitts, 9, is going into fifth grade this year. He doesn't seem super enthusiastic about reading. His dad says Georgio would rather play video games, but he makes his son grab a book all the same. His pick? "Home Run Kings."
He may not love the reading part, but the part where he gets $2 from the barber to put in his piggy bank? That part is pretty great.
Open 7 days a week, available by appointment or walk-in.
The Sanford Barber
📱(407) 978-1234
101 W. 1st St.
Sanford, FL 32771
IG: www.instagram.com/thesanfordbarber
A full-service, professional barber offering an artistic flair with quality workmanship, providing one-of-a-kind fades, blowouts, ceasars, tapes, flat tops, mohawks, fauxhawks, designs, hot towel razors shaves, and beard trims at affordable prices in the heart of Downtown Historic Sanford, FL.