High School Innovator Creates Search Website

Marc Gammell, a senior at Old Rochester Regional High School, hasn’t let the tough economy get the best of him. As jobs and internships for high school students grow more scarce, Gammell strove to make the search easier for students in the Tri-Town community by creating a forum website providing free job listings.

Parents who run their own businesses, as well as local businesses, can use the website to advertise job and internship openings directly to interested students.  Gammell created his website, High School Connect2Success (HSC2S), for his senior project, which all graduating seniors are required to complete during their last term.

“Originally I was going to do [my senior project] on practical jokes,”  Gammell said. “But I came up with the website idea on my own and decided to pursue that.”

Gammell explained that he conceived the idea while surfing the Internet during school. He had been thinking about his brother’s recent co-op experience in college and wondered if there might be an easier way for students to find jobs.

The website contains a number of features that appeal to different students. One page lists current jobs and internships and operates as a forum that registered student users can access. This page also houses job and internship forms and information about how website members can use those forms to apply for positions.

Another section of the website contains blogs. The first blog is for website news and success stories. This blog allows Gammell to update website members about the website and allows members to post about their HSC2S experiences.

“[It’s for] success stories of people who found jobs or parents who are happy with students’ work,” Gammell said.

The second blog that HSC2S produces is called Create/Innovate. In this blog, Gammell said that students can post about their own projects and promote themselves.

“I left that one open to interpretation,” Gammell said. “I created something out of nothing, so I created that blog for people with creativity.”

HSC2S is still a growing website, and Gammell stressed that it now needs support from parents and local businesses to increase the number of job listings. Gammell has gotten in contact with parents of current high school students through the school’s email system, but he says that local businesses must email him at marcgammell@gmail.com. Local businesses that query Gammell will receive step-by-step directions for creating an account.

Gammell hopes to keep HSC2S a free resource for Tri-Town students. Eventually, he would like to relinquish control of the website to school administrators.

HSC2S is for all high school students and even eighth graders, although Gammell thinks it would have the most appeal to seniors.

“We’re looking for summer jobs and we are trying to find out what career path [interests us],” Gammell said. “The website helps with this.”

The value of HSC2S stems from its localized natured, Gammell said.

“It’s really similar to LinkedIn but more localized. It creates a safety net. You know who you’re dealing with – parents, students,” he said.

Hopefully, parents will be joining the website and posting job listings for the high school students. Gammell stresses that these job listings can be for anything as small as some yard work or babysitting as large as job shadowing. These internships may be either paid or unpaid, perhaps in a situation where a parent wants to have a student help out in the workplace.

“The student gets an idea of the career,” Gammell said. “And the parent gets help.  It’s a win-win.”

Parents and local businesses are encouraged to join the website, Gammell said, because they’re a networking connection.

“There’s a ton of successful parents around here and on the way to success, they’ve made connections.”  Gammell hopes that parents might even use the website to post not just their own job listings, but comments about job openings that they’ve heard about.

“I tried to keep [the website] as simple and user-friendly as possible,” Gammell said.  “That’s one of my selling points.  It’s easy to use.  The more parents and local businesses that sign up, the more success the site and students will see.”

HSC2S came about with some assistance and guidance, Gammell said.

“It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my mom, Lee Shionis, Michael Devoll, and Judy Johnson,” he said.

HSC2S can be found at www.thehighschoolconnect2success.weebly.com.

By Anne Smith

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