Jamal Whitsett was upset to hear about fights, lockdowns, and police calls at his alma mater, Academy Park High School, writes Jaclyn Lee for 6abc.

“I’ve never seen anything like that and I said to myself, ‘If there’s anything I can do, I have a skill, which is barbering, which is these clippers,” said Whitsett.

Whitsett took those skills to the school, offering free haircuts to students and a bit of mentoring.

Organizers hope to make it an every-other-month event.

“What I’m doing can be considered mentoring but it’s one-on-one mentoring. This is what the barbering situation is about. If you’re sitting right here, I have your ear,” said Whitsett.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“Some people, they don’t have dads in their life, you know what I’m saying?” said 11th grader Abraham Dean. “So you come out here, they give us advice.”

“The way they do that it just makes me more comfortable to talk to them about anything so it allows me to really open up and get a feeling of where I want to be,” said 12th grader Mark Henry.

Whitsett says if he can save one student, he’s done his job.

Read more about Jamal Whitsett and this unique mentoring experience at 6abc.