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When COVID shut down schools and businesses, Miami Palmetto Senior High School junior Hayden Jellson went to work. He started his own landscaping and car wash company.
He mowed lawns, pulled weeds, and washed cars.
But not for himself. He donated a portion of the profits from his business to Feeding South Florida.
He chose Feeding South Florida because they provide so many meals for people in need.
“I really wanted to help people during that difficult time,” he says.
Working on lawns is not just a way to raise money for a non-profit, it also gives him insight into turf management, which is the field he is most interested in. He aspires to become a professional greenskeeper.
To move towards that goal, he’s working as a greenskeeper at the Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club.
He plans to major in the agriculture field and earn a business management minor. Schools currently on his list include the University of Florida, and the University of Georgia. He plans college visits during school breaks.
At Palmetto, he is a peer health educator for the Health Information Project. He enjoyed the HIP classes as a freshman and wanted to have a positive impact on the freshman class this year.
He’s a member of the National Honor Society and a member of the PTSA. He’s the student representative to EESAC and PTSA, the committee that meets monthly to discuss school funding and the overall performance of the school.
Jellson is the treasurer of the Jewish Student Union.
“We don’t have club dues,” he says. “We do fundraising. We are also looking to do a sale for merchandise.”
He’s also a member of the BBYO chapter at the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center.
Jellson is one of the founding members of Teen Tutor Society which tutors students at Palmetto Middle School.
“We started that in September because they didn’t have any free tutoring offered at the school,” he says. “We tutor every subject. Usually most of the students are there for math.
I usually focus on math and pre-algebra. There are about four of us that go each week. Sometimes five, sometimes three, but I usually go each week.”
They were encouraged to start the group by Palmetto Middle’s new principal.
Jellson also works part-time for the Howard Palmetto Baseball Softball Association as an umpire.
“I played in that organization for 11 years,” he says. “I played for my high school freshman and sophomore year.”
He stopped playing because he didn’t have the same love for the game anymore. So being an umpire is a joy that brings him back to a game that he loved.
“I really enjoy it,” he says. “I’m still in the game. I like interacting with the kids. I like it a lot.”
Last year he umpired games for kindergartener through second grade. This year he’s umpiring games for kids in third through fifth grade.
He also volunteers for Friendship Circle and joined the president’s council two years ago.
He expects to stay on the board throughout his senior year.
Jellson started out in the Friends at Home program through Zoom but switched to the Sunday program three years ago. Since then, he’s had the same buddy and loves interacting with that buddy.
For fun, four years ago he and his brother Logan started GilletteReports on Instagram, a fan page for the Patriots football team. He’s up to 1500 followers and has interacted with players and been invited to a Patriots game.
Linda Rodriquez Bernfeld
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