Cibola High launches hands-on aesthetics class, students make lip glosses

Lip glosses were taking shape at Cibola High School as students worked through a new aesthetics class that is designed to do more than teach beauty basics. Under Stefani Stevenson, the course blends skincare, cosmetics and the business side of the field, giving students a direct route into one of Yuma County’s most accessible self-employment paths.

The class is part of a broader push toward workforce training at Cibola. The school’s career and technical education program also includes business management, culinary arts, nursing services, sports medicine and automotive technologies, placing aesthetics alongside other tracks meant to turn classroom time into job-ready skills. For students who want to earn a living quickly after high school, cosmetology can become a first step toward salon work, client-based services or eventually running a small beauty business.

That pathway has already proved popular in the Yuma Union High School District. The district first launched a related cosmetology program in 2023 through the Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma, and it has consistently filled up. STEDY says it serves all high school students in public, private and charter schools and builds programs that lead to industry-recognized certification. Its cosmetology-hairstyling program runs two years and covers industry expectations, infection control, anatomy, hygiene and salon management.

For families, the appeal is practical as much as academic. A 2023 STEDY announcement said students in Yuma previously had to travel to Phoenix to study cosmetology and become certified there. The local option was presented as costing little to no money, a meaningful difference for students trying to avoid both travel and the price tag that usually comes with specialized training. KYMA later reported the program cost about $25.

The class is also serving students who are already proving themselves on a larger stage. In a recent SkillsUSA state competition, Cibola students Savanah Martinez and Kadence Perry took first and third place in the esthetics division. Arizona’s state CTE office describes SkillsUSA as a nonprofit organization for students preparing for trade, technical and skilled service occupations, which makes those finishes more than a trophy moment. They show that Yuma students are building technical skill in a field tied to real jobs.

That matters in a district of more than 11,000 students spread across seven high schools. At Cibola, aesthetics is becoming part of the pipeline from school to certificate to income, whether a student goes on to work in a salon, build a clientele, or launch a small business of their own.