Barber Offers Free Haircuts to Kids Who Read to Him

(Photo: Mike Burley/Telegaph Herald/AP)

Courtney Holmes, a barber in Dubuque, Iowa, wants to encourage kids to read. So if a child sits in his chair and reads a book to him, Holmes will cut the kid's hair--for free! He's offering this opportunity as part of a local back-to-school program. The Globe Gazette reports:

Tayshawn Kirby, 9, of Dubuque, read from "Fats, Oils and Sweets," by Carol Parenzan Smalley, informing Holmes that the average person eats 150 pounds of sugar each year. Before Tayshawn's 10-year-old brother, Titan Feeney, took his turn in the barber chair, he told his brother the new look was great.

"I just want to support kids reading," Holmes said.

Caitlin Daniels, grade-level reading coordinator with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, also helped struggling readers in the barber chair.

"It's great. All the kids, they want to have a good haircut to go back to school," she said. "They're paying through reading."

-via Daily of the Day