On March 3rd, Mamaroneck High School did something it had never done before. It opened its doors to over 30 local businesses, filled the post gym with more than 500 students, and by the end of the evening had collected 650 job applications. Not bad for a first attempt.
The event was the brainchild of two juniors, Madison Epstein and Magnolia Stone, who developed the idea through MHS’s OCRA program after identifying a gap that most people had simply accepted as normal. When they surveyed roughly 300 of their classmates, the results were pretty telling: students who had jobs almost universally got them through family or friend connections. If you didn’t have that network, you were left to fend for yourself.
Epstein, who works at Hommocks, 16 Handles, and Bonnie Briar, knew the landscape firsthand.
“I wanted to create a high school summer job fair because working is a huge part of my own personal life,” she said. “I know how difficult it can be, how daunting the process can be, to find a job. So I wanted to create a way for students to make connections with employers and make the process as easy as possible, so that as many kids as possible can get jobs, because it’s so beneficial.” The businesses that showed up represented a solid cross-section of what Westchester has to offer. Westchester Country Club, Coveleigh Club, Orienta Beach Club, Millie’s Provisions (a newly opened local shop that made it one of their first community appearances), and Badger Day Camp were all in attendance, alongside more than two dozen other employers. Students moved through the room, had real conversations, and submitted applications across the board.
Through the innovative QR application system Epstein and Stone developed, direct communication was created between employers and students, hopefully building connections leading to employment. 98, 125, 80, and 75 application tallies from individual employers stacked up fast.
Stone, a former Camp Pinebrook counselor and co-founder of the job fair, attributes the success to “all of the business participants and the supporting community engagement from local institutions, including LMC Media — Larchmont Chamber of Commerce — and Mamaroneck Chamber of Commerce.”
Mr. O’Byrne, a teacher who co-runs OCRA, wasn’t surprised it came together the way it did, but he was still impressed. “It was a big success,” he said. “The girls did a great job identifying a need in the school community. Planning and executing an event for the first time is a real challenge, and they did a great job getting the word out to students and bringing in all types of employers.”
For O’Byrne, the crowd said everything. “The student turnout clearly shows a need for an event like this. Working over the summer is a good experience for any teenager, and the more doors we can open for students to explore, the better.”
He also described how OCRA gave them an avenue to think about what the community needed, and provided mentors and a structure through which they could make an idea real,” he said. “That’s a testament to Madison and Magnolia.” And he’s already thinking about next year. “Summer jobs often sneak up on people — getting students to think about it in March gives them the opportunity for a summer of successful employment. I hope this becomes a regular part of the Mamaroneck school calendar.”
The results speak for themselves, but Stone and Epstein aren’t stopping at one. The plan is to bring the job fair back, building on to what worked this year and expanding both the number of employers and the reach into the student body. The goal is to make it an annual fixture at MHS, something underclassmen can look forward to and upperclassmen can count on. If the turnout on March 3rd is any measure of demand, the hard part won’t be filling the room. It’ll be finding enough tables.