Crafting anything takes a lot, whether it’s a small project to an entire product line, but the pride of being able to show it off is always worth the effort. The craft of jewelry making has now taken shape at North Atlanta High School allowing students to flash their handmade accessories and give back. Started by senior Madeline Acton, the jewelry club provides the opportunity for students to make necklaces, bracelets, and more from different materials to eventually sell for charity. Being a startup, it is currently a smaller club, but aims to get many more members over time. An interesting mash of charity and craft is what makes North Atlanta’s Jewelry Club last!
Starting just a month ago, the Jewelry Club came to be due to Acton approaching art teacher Abigael Arreguin to start the club along with vice president and co-founder, Theodora Moschopoulos. Acton has experience in jewelry making, and got inspired by seeing other people make their own business by selling their finished products. From then, a leadership team formed, adding promotion officer Lily Tekin and secretary Eric Contis. Moschopoulos runs the club when Acton isn’t there, and finds venues for the club to sell their jewelry. Tekin manages the club’s instagram page: @nahsjewelry, the Remind, and the Google Classroom in order to advertise and post club meetings using edited photos and Canva to put it all together. Contis also mans the Google Classroom, and is in charge of team logistics. While the club currently has around 20 members, finding new officers for next year is important, as they’re all seniors. Nevertheless, the leaders still aim to have a good amount of club members and products by the end of the year. With enough sales, they’ll be able to donate their earnings to certain organizations. “I wanted to harness creativity and show it to others,” Acton said.
Every Wednesday, the Jewelry Club experiments with upcycled crafting materials, such as clay jewelry for pendants, bottle caps with printed pictures, clasps for bracelets using beads and wires, and key chains with resin. Near the end of the year, when they’re ready to sell for the holiday season, the club plans to cast votes on which charities that they want to give back to. Additionally, the club may potentially have an organization partner that they’ll donate to, the ALS Association. Gaining steady progress with one or two new members each meeting also gives the club more opportunities to work together towards their goal. “Everyone has built good bonds with each other, it’s like a tiny little community.” Tekin said.
Even though the club is barely a month old, they’ve attained new members, an established leadership group, and a collective goal. The important desire to do good for the community and be a place for students to develop their crafts is the main reason for the making of the Jewelry Club. Each piece of resin, clay, wire, and beads come together each Wednesday to make the interesting mash of charity and craft is what makes North Atlanta’s Jewelry Club last!
