This summer, when the hot weather makes us all want to spend all of our time on the boat or swimming in the harbor, many of Marblehead’s high school students are busier than ever. Some have decided to use their time away from the classroom to learn new skills, make new connections and get some incredible new experiences. From growing their own jewelry business, to tech sales and Hollywood marketing internships, these teens have worked hard during their break from studying.
One Marblehead teen who is taking full advantage of the summer break is MHS senior Cora Gerson, who makes colorful, sea-inspired pieces of jewelry, and is building her own business. After learning how to make jewelry during her sophomore year of high school by watching videos, taking classes and being taught by her grandmother, Gerson started spending her free time designing and producing her own jewelry and selling it to her friends. This year, she has expanded her business and now uses an Instagram account, @jewelry_bycora, to sell custom necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets.
She takes a lot of creative inspiration from the ocean, a big part of Marblehead life, and her work often features anchors, seashells and sea glass.
“I see the materials in front of me, the designs flow through me. I have a lot of creative freedom when it comes to my designs,” Gerson said.
“It’s been really exciting,” reflected Gerson. “It’s really fun, because it’s my hobby, but I’ve also turned it into a business over the last year, and the experience overall has really connected me to a lot of new people.”
On Aug. 2, she was invited to set up shop at the Marblehead Farmers’ Market and sell her jewelry. She described how this new experience allowed her to develop as an artist and entrepreneur.
“I was able to expand my audience and meet a lot of new people,” Gerson said. “It’s a very different experience than what I’m used to. I usually just sell things online, so being face to face with your clientele was a completely different experience. I also definitely feel more connected to my community.”
Another student working hard this summer is MHS senior Callie Curtis, who spent much of her break working in post-production film marketing while interning at Mob Scene. The Los Angeles company is famous for creating the marketing campaigns for movies like “Barbie” and “A Complete Unknown.” Callie and her sister, Chloe, interned at Mob SCene for two weeks, learning how to do post-production work on movies, and create unique and effective marketing strategies for films before their release.
“I loved learning new things and seeing how things worked in the industry,” said Curtis. “I love the marketing and advertising part of it. Coming up with long- and short-term content to advertise films in our brainstorming sessions was my favorite part.”
Abdullah Al Janabi, another senior at MHS, spent his summer getting into the world of technology sales. Al Janabi wanted to learn more about sales, so he spent the spring months looking for summer internships that could give him some experience.
“My goal for this summer was to learn what I like and what I don’t like, so I can have a better game plan for when I go to college,” said Al Janabi. “I’ve always known that I like to communicate, and I wanted to be able to capitalize off of that.”
He started an internship at Prophecy, a data software platform that uses AI-powered software to analyze and interpret data, and has been spending the summer getting experience in selling software.
“I would send outbound emails and calls to book demonstrations and meetings for different companies that could use our software to improve their businesses,” explained Al Janabi.
“At first, calling all of these people to get these deals was really nerve wracking,” he said. “I had to stay on my toes when I was calling, because you’ll get 20 people that send you a voicemail, but the 21st person might answer it. In the end, it was so fulfilling when someone finally agreed to a meeting.”
