Students in the Ector County ISD Teen Parent Related Services program had a chance for a little pampering Monday, thanks to the I AM Preparatory Foundation partnering with Glitz House of Beauty and Lavish Barber Shop.
Ten students — nine young women and one young man — took part in an event called Recognition of Resilience.
TC Hughes, founder of the I AM Preparatory Foundation and eighth grade assistant principal at Crockett Middle School, said the foundation wants to connect people to services that aid in wellness, education and financial services.
Those chosen for the event had to be teen parents who are in school, about to graduate with a life goal and a life plan already in place.
These students, Hughes said, are ready to go to Odessa College and University of Texas Permian Basin. One of the young men is going through the firefighter program and will have “maybe a year and a half of his programming already complete once he graduates high school.”
Chelsea Waters, who owns the business, has been at the downtown location for three years. But Glitz has been open since 2011. She added that the girls were having fun, but it was fun for the stylists as well.
“We love doing stuff like this. We like getting to see different people, getting involved in the community. It’s … something different for us,” Waters said.
The young women at Glitz appreciated being able to take a little time out for themselves.
Natalie Vega, 18, attends Acceleration Academies of Ector County and expects to graduate in May. She is the mother of a 2-year-old son and had her hair cut and styled by Daniella Armendariz.
“It means a lot as a mom,” Vega said.
Vega said Teen Parent Related Services has helped her a lot over the years.
“They’re very kind ladies and they’re very supportive,” she added.
Abigail Montoya, a 17-year-old Odessa High School student, is the mother of an 8-month-old girl.
The chance to get her hair done Monday was gratifying to Montoya.
“It means a lot because I’m not always able to do things for myself,” she added.
Montoya said the Teen Parent program helps them get through high school as parents, helps with grades and courses and sometimes provides free necessities to the young parents.
“It means a lot because they’ve been a lot of help,” she added.
Rose Valderaz, coordinator of Teen Parent Related Services, said she and her team have worked hard to get their students to get excited about school, feel empowered to advocate for themselves and work on their leadership skills.
“Bringing them here to this opportunity and then getting interviewed by different people, just being asked different questions, they’re just shining,” Valderaz said.
She added that she hopes they don’t miss a single teen parent — whether male or female — that still needs to complete their education.
She encourages them to reach out and the program will work with them to see what fits them.
Valderaz said they started off with more than 50 students in the program.
“We graduated the bulk of them. … We carry them until they graduate, so from the moment that we reach them until they graduate,” she added.
Students find out about the program through media, community events where they hand out flyers and word of mouth.
“The biggest is word of mouth. We do share our flyers. I try to attend as many community events as possible, and share our information, share our QR codes and things like that. But it’s a lot of word of mouth,” Valderaz said. “That’s always the best.”
Hughes said teen parents may think they are not loved, not heard, not seen and looked down upon.
They wanted to show that not only does the school district have resources to support the student, their child and help the student graduate, but that there are also community partners that come together and operate as a village to show that the kids are seen for who they are, heard and loved.
“We know how to help them and that we have their best interest in mind,” Hughes said.
His foundation’s focus is connecting people to services and three primary functions of wellness, education and financial services.
When the foundation reached out to Glitz House of Beauty and Lavish Barber Shop, both businesses said, “absolutely yes,” Hughes said.
The foundation name comes out of Hughes’ faith and love for empowering others.
“There is a epicenter where divine love and the human experience meets that has always fascinated me. In this place, two power statements that God said to humanity live: I AM whatever you need me to be, and you are whatever you believe in your heart to be. One is a proclamation made by God, to us. The other is an affirmation we make to ourselves. Both power statements, begin with I AM…. Which means, self-sustainability and civil-development are predicated on how we see the world collectively, and how each person discovers the value of their fingerprint,” Hughes said.
“If poverty is a state of mind as much as it is a state of being, breaking the cycle of poverty, will require a true balance between servicing the neurobiological, emotional and physical need.
“I AM Preparatory was created to do just that. To service the needs of humanity by being a bridge between people and resources that aide in wellness, education and financial services. So that everyone has the opportunity to find and maximize their skillset; To live life at full strength, with a countenance as bright as the sun.
“Our goal is to prepare youth, in particular, to be, while yet becoming, global leaders of the future marketplace that awaits them. By responding to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, challenging youth through metacognition and teaching neuroplasticity practices, youth will have the skillsets and confidence to proactively affirm I AM; and finish this power statement with SMART goals that they have determined for their life. In doing so, I AM Preparatory will not only service the needs of humanity, but support future generations to come,” he added.
