'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
It may be the last place you think of high school students doing an extracurricular activity.
After school, twice a week, a group of Montreal teenagers is learning the clips of the trade at Quality Cuts West Island.
Austin Russo picked up a pair of shears for the first time a few months ago. He is only 13 years old.
"I cut my dad's hair. He is like, 'Do you want to cut my hair?' I'm like, 'Yeah, sure.' And then after that day, I just fell in love with it."
He says he loves how cutting hair can transform a person. As of next week, the Grade 8 student will be a certified barber.
He is among a small group of students at his high school completing a 10-week program, learning everything from basic techniques like parting and sectioning hair, to what it's like to run a barber shop.
"A lot of people think you can only start doing things for your future when you're older, but I can start at 15, you know? Why not start young?" said Grade 10 student Kevin Patel.
"You get to talk to people, hear everyone's stories, it's not for everyone but personally I enjoy what I'm doing," he said.
Patel said he told his friends he's going to cut their hair and start charging them to make a little money on the side.
"I've had a part-time job during the summer, but I feel like this is better than a part-time job because it's something I actually enjoy doing," he said.
The course is done on the students' own time, with costs covered by the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
Their teachers want them to see that success doesn't just come in the form of a university degree.
"This is, first off, a great way for kids to see what they might be interested in. We also know there are great vocational programs that pay just as much," said Roberto Esperance, John Rennie High School French teacher and extracurricular activities co-ordinator.
"Students aren't going to remember the French grammar I taught them, but they'll definitely take this experience with them further in life."
Russo hopes to start taking clients at home in his garage.
"He better be giving me a discount, I don't know yet," his father, Anthony Russo, said with a laugh, to which Austin promised he would.
It's perhaps the start of a career, a part-time job or maybe a hobby empowering the next generation to be a cut above.
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
Officials from Parks Canada and Jasper say "multiple structures, including a number of businesses and homes, in and around the town of Jasper, have been lost" to wildfire in Jasper National Park.
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says early reports indicate a third and perhaps up to half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have been destroyed in a wildfire.
Fewer Canadians are expected to reach the Paris podium than in the previous two Olympic Summer Games, a global data analytics company predicts.
Jennifer Aniston is criticizing JD Vance for comments he made in his past about women without children.
'Skibidi Toilet' is already an internet sensation and now its about to get even more exposure after the YouTube series is being developed for TV and film, according to a report by Variety.
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.
French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla will be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics wearing a cap to cover her hair, an agreement reached with the French Olympic Committee after Sylla said she was barred because of her hijab.
A Saskatchewan-born veteran of the Second World War was recently presented with France's highest national order.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.