Student Spotlight: Ava Green

Ava Green is a sophomore at Hamburg Area High School. She is very well known throughout school, soccer, and her jewelry making. This past year, Ava’s jewelry has become so popular within the school that she had recently started her partnership with Hamburg’s small shop, Lazy Dog. Ava is the founder of Green’s creations. There, she makes most of her profits selling crystal and trendy jewelry. 

      Ava talks a bit more about her business journey and states, “Starting out, I joined a Jewelry club where I found that I loved making jewelry. I decided to go out and buy a couple strands of beads to practice.” 

      Ava enjoyed this new hobby and started doing it in her freetime. “I started making too much so when I would wear them to school, people would ask where I got it from and I would tell them I made it, which they would end up asking me to make them a piece of jewelry.” Her journey started small. As she stated, Ava would sell her jewelry to people in school. Her items became more popular, causing Ava to want to expand.

      “I started making a lot of money simply selling through school hallways. So I looked into it, and found Lazy Dog Vintage, which is a vendor shop starting to bloom in business needing vendors. I asked them if they were interested in some jewelry to have out on their floor, and they said yes.” This was the start of Ava’s first shop and business opportunity.

      They let her see how it lasted, and she learned during the colder months it was slow. This will be her first experience selling during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holidays because Ava had only opened up her shop January 22nd of 2022. In some months she only made 20 bucks, but others she made over $500. She also started participating in craft shows which also helped her to make a lot of money. “My first ever craft show I only made $80, but it was a start. However, at my second craft show, I made over $300 in 3 hours. This upcoming year, I’m looking into investing in selling online and shipping things out of state.”

      Ava is very active within school and extracurriculars in her freetime. Recently, Ava has joined the ski club to fulfill her snowboarding hobby. She has been snowboarding ever since she was a toddler. She says snowboarding only got serious for her around age 10, and she tries her hardest to learn new tricks and skills. Other than making jewelry, Ava loves seeing her friends outside of school or going to school social events. 

      Another thing Ava does in her freetime is soccer. She has been very serious about this sport. Ava is seen practicing after hours with her dad, and working on her fitness to ensure that her playing time is outstanding. 

      She has been playing soccer since she was four years old. She used to play for Schuylkill Valley, but then she transferred over to Hamburg when she turned eight years old. A few years later, she was asked by rage (a soccer travel team) to join their team. Same with FC, revolution and Evergreen (also travel teams). Not realizing how good of an opportunity it would’ve been, Ava unfortunately turned all of them down.  When Ava was around late 12, early 13, she joined West Schuylkill FC and played from 2018 to 2022. Then she joined the girls high school soccer team for Hamburg, and she plans on continuing to play it till she is a senior. “I’ve also been snowboarding since I was three, I never went into crazy competitions or took it that serious until about a year ago, but that’s when I got into an accident. I ended up with a horrible concussion and screwed up my spine and tailbone, causing me to struggle with all sports, especially soccer. This left me in bad condition, which then left me to not be as good as I used to be in ninth grade.”

      Ava is a great example of what a Hamburg student should look up to. While keeping her grades high, she is able to maintain a business, enjoy her hobbies, and hang out with friends.