When Katelin Gildersleeve, sister to Shelton School salutatorian Timothy Gildersleeve, wore her necklace to her high school prom at Episcopal School of Dallas on April 14, no one would have suspected it was a Shelton trifecta delight.  It began with a winning jewelry design by Shelton senior Lizzie Cleveland.  It ended up as an 18k white gold piece featuring a 7.73 carat green amethyst briolette and seven pearls.

For the eighth consecutive year, Pampillonia Jewelers in Richardson partnered with Shelton School’s jewelry design internship contest coordinated by Shelton art instructor Mandy Dockweiler. Her upper level Studio Art students participated in the contest to create a winning design that would ultimately be rendered into a piece of fine jewelry and make its way to Shelton’s annual benefit auction.

As the winning designer, Lizzie Cleveland got to learn many of the inner workings of the jewelry business during her time with Pampillonia, and the jewelers donated the finished piece to Shelton’s auction.  In addition, Lizzie’s entire Studio Art class was able to tour Pampillonia’s jewelry manufacturing facility, learn about the process, and garner inspiration for personal creations.

Says Dockweiler, “While it would be much easier for Pampillonia to just donate a piece of jewelry to our auction, this way a Shelton student gets an internship, a class gets to connect and learn about business community involvement, and a recipient gets to wear a fabulous piece of student-designed jewelry.  This year, the winning bidder for the necklace at our auction was the Gildersleeve family, a Shelton family. The experience has been a benefit to everyone involved, and we are fortunate to have a great partner.”