Bellus Academy Student Wins Gold in the 3rd Annual Wella Student Competition!
Bellus Academy Student Wins Gold in the 3rd Annual Wella Student Competition!
Ashley Thom, a cosmetology student at the prestigious Bellus Academy – Poway Campus, won Gold in the annual Wella Student Competition, part of the internationally renowned America’s Beauty Show which took place on March 9th – 11th, 2013 at the McCormick Place in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
Two other Bellus students, who also competed took Silver awards in their categories. Jasper Struthers, a cosmetology student from the Bellus Manhattan Campus won Silver in the Wella Professional Category. Sabrina Vann, a cosmetology student at the Bellus National City Campus, won Silver in the Sebastian Professionals Category.
Wella Professionals hosted 24 finalists in this year’s Wella Student Competition at America’s Beauty Show. With almost 500 entries, the 3rd annual competition marked a record-breaking year of entries from a total of 37 cosmetology schools across the nation.
“The student entries came in by mail, by hand, online and with passion,” noted Fabio Sementilli, Wella Creative & Technical Director. “Wella is passionate about our commitment to supporting stylists throughout every stage of their career. This competition shines the spotlight on student stylists who create beauty and defy convention. We are fostering a community of young, driven and talented stylists: the Next Gen.”
“Personally, I’m extremely proud of the work these young finalists entered and was honestly impressed by all of the students who entered the competition.” said Sementilli. “The Wella Student Competition continues to empower beauty school students year after year by providing a platform to perfect their craft and advance in the salon industry.”
Wella also believes that behind every great student is a great teacher. To honor cosmetology teachers, any student who competed in the Wella Student Competition could nominate their mentor or instructor for special recognition. The 10 “Instructor of the Year” nominees, the person who encouraged and inspired the student the most throughout his or her journey to becoming an amazing stylist will also be honored at ABS. The educators honored from Bellus Academy included Bryden Mugleston, Justyna Hebbert and Matthew Hom.
“Throughout our careers there are special folks who truly believe in our ability, they know it is their duty to mentor and guide us to succeed and positively change our lives,” said Sementilli. “For this reason, Wella designed this special award category to recognize the often unsung instructors/mentors in beauty schools and salons throughout North America.”
The Wella Student Competition was judged live, on the Wella exhibit stage by a panel of industry glitterati, including Wella Top Stylist Nick Berardi; Team I.C.A.N’s Kathryn Hornick; 2012 International Trend Vision Award Gold Winner and Wella Top Stylist Phillip Ferreira; 2011 North America Trend Vision Award Gold Winner and Wella Top Stylist Shirley Gordon; Wella Global Academy Dean Stephen Moody and Wella Lead Educator Kelly Pennington.
