Future Jewelers Academy opens at Baldwin High School@Shubert: A groundbreaking partnership with Natural Diamond Council and Black in Jewelry Coalition

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One classroom at Baldwin High School@Shubert began with just four walls and a floor — but what emerged is the Future Jewelers Academy, a unique collaboration with the Natural Diamond Council and the Black in Jewelry Coalition.

The academy, which introduces Shubert School students to all aspects of the jewelry industry, from design to “bench work” to retail, officially opened at the start of the school year, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday was attended by members of the Board of Education, representatives of the two organizations and elected officials.

The program joins others at Shubert, where a non-traditional high school curriculum offers students the opportunity to fulfill state graduation requirements by earning Career and Technical Education as well as academic credits, with programs including barbering, medical administrative assistant and police science.

The Future Jewelers Academy, which comprises roughly a dozen students, gives them hands-on experience in the jewelry industry. Participants are expected to complete eight to 10 jewelry projects by the end of the school year, and will earn college credits applicable to a variety of programs in the State School system.

By applying principles of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math, or STEAM, to the world of gems and jewelry, students will learn about potential careers in the industry.

Shubert senior Scarlett Kefer Jaramillo described her work in the program as “therapeutic.”

“When I first got into the program, I wasn’t really expecting a lot,” Kefer Jaramillo acknowledged. “But when I saw the classroom and the equipment, I was like, oh my gosh, this is serious. This is a career.”

In the classroom, students have their own workstations, and use tools including chaser hammers and saw frames.

For her first project, Kefer Jaramillo created a brooch, a decorative accessory typically attached to garments and often made of metal, such as silver or gold.

“I was like, who wears these?” she chuckled, and then was interrupted by a guest who was wearing one. “Other projects included bead making, which is this one,” she added, pointing to another piece on display. “I honestly gave it my all.”

The Natural Diamond Council is a nonprofit that educates consumers about the value of natural diamonds and the impact of the industry globally. Its partnership with the Black in Jewelry Coalition — a first of its kind — is intended to help Black professionals advance in the gem and jewelry industry.

School board Trustee Annie Doresca also serves on the board of the Black In Jewelry Coalition. She introduced the idea of bringing the program to Shubert to Superintendent Shari Camhi.

“What we were trying to figure out was how we can make it work, where the students still get the classes and credits that they need in addition to the creativity that we wanted to bring here,” Doresca said, recalling her conversations with Camhi. “Adding this to our Baldwin High School@Shubert program just made sense.”

“This woman,” Adrianne Sanogo, education chair of the Black In Jewelry Coalition, said, pointing at Doresca, “is the person who started the conversations with Dr. Camhi, and was the perfect liaison. The fact that we had Annie lead the way on this is incredible.”

In addition to giving students the opportunity to pursue a unique career, Doresca said, the program hopes to address the bench jewelry shortage of bench jewelers in the industry.

“We want this to be a pipeline,” she said. “A pipeline to either further continue education at FIT” — Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology — “or jewelry design programs, or potentially make it one to go to Hearts on Fire or another jewelry company and become a bench jeweler.”