WESTFORD — A row of mannequin heads secured to fancy salon chairs are ready to get the hairstyles of their dreams.
The senior students in Nashoba Valley Technical High School’s Cosmetology Program tend to their mannequin heads as if they were customers, practicing techniques for snipping hair into layers and sleek bobs.
Regularly, they also give haircuts to human clients who come to their salon, NT Cosmo, during its weekday hours.
Students are learning in a newly renovated state-of-the-art salon, said Sayda Betsold, a cosmetology instructor at Nashoba Tech. The previous space had been built in the early 2000s and was outdated, she explained.
Renovations were made possible by a $500,000 Workforce Skills grant from the state in 2024 that funded the salon teaching space renovation and shifting of other spaces at the school.
Students began using the new salon training area in late April 2025 and the official ribbon-cutting was held in October 2025. “Our training now is matching what our students are seeing in salons,” Betsold said.
Finding Confidence Behind the Chair
On a late November day, senior Alexis Puleo of Ayer, studies the consultation sheet for her mannequin client and sees that she wants a trending style, an A-line bob—a downward slant from the back of the head to the chin.
“Right now, she is looking for a drastic change in length,” Puleo said. “It’s always finding that sweet spot of what she wants.”
Puleo works on the haircut, and calls over the instructor for advice. She said she switched from one of the automotive programs to cosmetology. She hopes to use the cosmetology skills to earn money while pursuing another goal.
“I am going to do this on the side when I do college. It’s not a typical desk job, which I could not do,” Puleo said.
Puleo is aiming to study forensic psychology, hoping to get involved in police work, but wants something to fall back on, and styling hair has been enjoyable for her since she was a child.
A few salon chairs over, Juan Ruvalcaba of Pepperell, is working from an inspiration picture his mannequin client “brought in” of a side bang. He also had started on a different path, the Electrical Technology Program. But for him, he said, “It came down to what career I would have the most fun in and not get bored.”
The personal connection with clients and opportunity to help bolster self-esteem, also drew him to hair styling.
“I like the creativity of it,” Ruvalcaba said. “Sitting down with the client and making them feel better about themselves.”
He understands what it’s like to not like your hair. He has had many styles himself, from a “really bad side part in eighth grade,” to a buzz cut, to a perm that he said was great, except for the sides.
After graduation, Ruvalcaba plans to work in the beauty industry full-time for two years, possibly in California, and then return to training to obtain his barber’s license, which he already has some training toward.
(In the photo at the top of this article, Myli Vasquez works on the hairstyle of her mannequin. Photo credit: WestfordCAT Jennifer Nejman Bohonak).
Senior Myli Vasquez of Chelmsford wants to go straight into the industry after graduation and some day own a salon. As a child, she loved to style her princess mannequin dolls. Then, in the summer of the seventh grade, she shaved off all of her own hair.
“I was 13, going though changes, and I felt like I didn’t need my hair,” Vasquez said.
Now, Vasquez wears her curly hair with a signature side part. In class, she was working on balayage color technique and cut.
Creative Styling
In total, there are 28 students, sophomores, juniors and seniors, in the cosmetology program, which prepares them for careers in cutting and coloring hair as well as skin and nail care, Betsold explained.
Training takes them beyond typical beauty shop days. Around Halloween, students have a project to create a hairstyle and makeup. And the finished looks are displayed in the student salon—vampires, an undersea siren and a gargoyle.
For another project, they have the chance to be the lead stylist and also a model for a peer, where they create a look, go to a professional photographer’s studio to run a photo shoot and come away with professional photos for their portfolio.
In the past few years, Nashoba Tech cosmetology students have competed and won multiple honors at the state level and competed in the national level of the SkillsUSA competition.
The school program is designed for students to get all of their hours by their junior year, and then as seniors, they are encouraged to do a co-op at an area salon. Students must have 1,000 hours of training required by the state’s Board of Cosmetology and Barbering. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, they can get tested at their school for the hands-on test, Betsold said.
The goal is for students to pass the exam and have their license by the time they graduate Nashoba Tech, Betsold said.
The past couple of years, the cosmetology program has become a popular choice for students, said Nashoba Tech Principal Jeremy Slotnick.
“Our goal is to make sure the students are as prepared for their future as possible, so we want it to as realistic a setting as it can be,” he said.
To inquire about beauty services or make an appointment, call 978-692-9601 or visit NT Cosmo’s webpage.
