‘You can always be more involved’: LaFayette High student spends her summer serving

For many high school students, the summer is a time for relaxing, going to the beach and endeavoring to forget everything you learned in school that year. But for Jeleah Carwell, the summer is so much more than that.

Carwell, a sophomore at LaFayette High School, is spending her summer in an internship at Krave Korner this summer focusing on business development.

There she works the register, helps out in the kitchen, works for catering events and learns the ins and outs of how to run a local family-owned business.

She has helped man Krave Korner’s booth at the Food Truck Festival events that LaFayette Main Street hosts each year. She even helped her family organize this year’s Juneteenth on the Square.

Carwell said she enjoys flexing her creative marketing skills by brainstorming ideas for the business.

“There’s always something going on. You can always learn different skills because they all do different stuff,” Carwell said. “… So [there’s] always something I can help with or can learn.”

At the restaurant, Carwell places an emphasis on sustainable practices and locally sourced ingredients, which has elevated the menu.

Carwell’s grandmother, Ruby Presley, owns Krave Korner and she seems to have passed down the entrepreneurial spirit. Both Carwell and her younger sister Kendall “Winnie” Williams (of Winnie’s Lemmies) have learned a lot about starting your own business.

However, that’s not where it ends for her. When Carwell isn’t helping out with Krave Korner or Winnie’s Lemmies, she is volunteering around the community. She can be spotted at local events for LaFayette Main Street and as a member of UNITE.

At school, Carwell serves as co-captain of the LaFayette High cheer team.

“I really enjoy cheering,” she said. “… When you’re on the cheer team, you have no choice but to make friends. You know you can always count on your cheer sisters.”

Last December, she received the esteemed All-American Cheerleading Award. She traveled to Hawaii as one of 500 cheerleaders selected to perform in the 2023 Pearl Harbor Parade with the 2023 UCA All-American Cheerleaders.

During the summer, she also spent three days helping out with the school’s cheer clinic, where she mentors younger students.

“I love working with little kids,” she said.

At school, Carwell serves as the marketing director for the publications team. She and the rest of the team work on engaging activities and fun newsletters for their classmates. Many of the team’s campaigns have boosted student engagement.

“We get students involved and make different flyers and stuff for school,” Carwell said.

Carwell is also a committee member of Kingdom It Girls LaFayette Chapter. There she mentors younger girls, giving guidance in both academic and personal matters.

If all that wasn’t enough, Carwell also represents the community as a junior ambassador for the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

“You can always be more involved,” she said.

With so much experience under her belt, Carwell has already decided what she wants to be one day. She hopes to go to college to study business management and become an entrepreneur like the rest of her family.

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