Dear AACS members,

As you know, we work hard to advocate for our students and graduates in Washington, D.C.  Despite our best efforts to get Members of Congress to see our students and graduates as valuable, meaningful and successful contributors to our economy, we fight an uphill battle for them.  Over the last several months we have heard our students voice their concerns about the pandemic, what it means to them and their families financially, and what it means to their educational path forward.  We have tried our best to alleviate their concerns, explain that we are doing our best to get their voices heard and bring their concerns forward to the decision makers in Washington.  However, they remain vigilant about wanting their “own voices” heard.

Together we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder and get their collective voices heard by taking their messages to social media.  We are asking each of the AACS member schools to offer the opportunity to your students or graduates to record a short, 30 – 60 second video that explains what their education means to them:

  • How their lives have been changed by their attendance at our schools
  • Why they chose to become a massage therapist, cosmetologist, or a hairdresser
  • How the pandemic has affected them and their families
  • How they see their futures changed by their education
  • Why they think their personal choice to attend a school should be just that – personal
  • How our veterans have become successful through their education
  • How they want members of Congress to understand they are adults, making smart and capable decisions

We can’t bring the students and graduates to Capitol Hill this year, but let’s not waste their powerful voices.  Together we can send countless messages from our students, so they have the chance to be heard.  Here are the instructions on how to help your students voice their opinions:

  1. Please keep the videos short, 30 – 60 seconds
  2. Use your cell phones to record them (they should be as authentic as possible)
  3. Have one point of contact from your school email the videos to Brooke Baran and TC Wolfe for review, who are working with AACS: brooke@baranstrategy.com and tc@newcenturyga.com
  4. They will create a social media post for you, and assist you with instructions on how to post to your social media channels, as well as manage posting to AACS’ social channels
  5. We will be using the hashtags of #beautyschools and #dontcutusout for this social media campaign
  6. Brooke and TC will assist you in finding your Members’ of Congress and will have their handles and hashtags included in the post language they deliver to you
  7. They will also help you send them via email to your Members of Congress and the Senate, so the students have the chance to be heard
  8. Remember to have fun and be unique with these

We will work hard alongside someone from each school, that you appoint to work with on the format and the videos.  Let’s stand together to allow our students and graduates to tell Washington “Don’t Cut Us Out” and to “Include Beauty.”

Here are some examples of what students and graduates have already been saying:

Students: 

  • Made the choice to attend this educational institution on my own, not because anyone pressured me into doing so
  • I tried Community College and it did not work for me because______________
  • This institution works best for me / fits into my future career plans, because _____
  • This institution offers me ____, which I could not find at other institutions I looked at prior to enrolling, and this works best for my family because ____
  • Attending this school has changed my life because ___________
  • As a veteran I believe it is my choice to use my benefits at _________ because I earned these benefits and this school is teaching me what I want to learn.
  • I think I am worthy of the US Government assisting in helping to defray the costs of my tuition at a school of my choosing because ________

Graduates: 

  • The education I received at _______ worked for me best at the particular time in my life when I enrolled because _______, and the attention from college administrators and faculty pushed me to change my life
  • My life changed because of my education in the following ways ________
  • I am a small business-owner, I can pay down my loans and my family are better off because ____
  • I am independent and making a living doing what I love to do ______________
  • If I had to do it all over again, I would still choose to attend ____________

We are here to help, please use us as a resource.  Let’s raise the bar for our students and help them get their message out there.

Best,
Brooke and TC

 

Click here to see what our students and graduates have submitted