From the Teachers

The day is upon us!

For months, SCH’s 6th graders have been learning about social impact, conducting interviews with social impact entrepreneurs, and creating books about these change-makers to sell. One hundred percent of the funds from book sales are reinvested in Kiva loans, the first of which were made today!

Our direct classroom democracy convened four committees to identify priority areas, which roughly corresponded to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Zero Poverty (SDG 1)

• Good Health & Wellbeing (SDG 3)

• Quality Education (SDG 4)

• Gender Equality (SDG 5)

• Decent Work & Econ Growth (SDG 8)

• Climate Change (SDG 13)

If you’re so inclined, learn more about the lendees our students selected and join us in microlending!

https://www.kiva.org/lend/2106219

https://www.kiva.org/lend/2106046

https://www.kiva.org/lend/2099259

https://www.kiva.org/lend/2092797

#Kiva #Globalgoals #globalcitizen #globalcitizenship #teachSDGs

1/21/2021

Throughout the winter term, we’ve aimed to engage students with real-world social entrepreneurs catalyzing positive change in their communities. On Jan. 19 and 21, we were lucky enough to have author, professor, and arts entrepreneur Roger Lee speak with our classes. Roger offered some stellar tips for our fledgling writers: write about something you love, know your audience/market, connect with the audience through familiar media channels (e.g., newspaper, social media, etc), and be able to speak fluently about why your work matters. In our boys’ class, three courageous volunteers even delivered an “elevator pitch” of their book topics, noting what made their takes on the subject unique.

Want to extend the learning that happened in today’s class at home? Students can practice articulating their elevator pitches and unique selling propositions with family!

1/22/2021

What I loved about Mr. Roger Lee’s talk is that he is kind and encouraging to the students. He tells his story and where he’s gone through in life to help the students know that they can make mistakes and roll right into the next moment. The world is their’s to explore and find themselves in. Mr. Lee shared his story with the students and also some really practical tips for these young entrepreneurs to explore book writing, selling, and marketing. Below are some of the highlights and tips from Mr. Lee’s talk.

1. Pick your top 3 things that you are passionate about. REALLY passionate about. As creatives, we have a lot of ideas, but you need to focus your writing. Pick your genre and allow yourself to explore in it. You need to love what you are writing about, know a lot about it, and think it is important for others to hear about.

2. Identify your target audience. This is the group of people who you want to reach out to. Think about HOW you are going to reach out to them. The example given was “Are you going to put a radio ad up for a group of 5th grade dancers? No. How about a newspaper ad for 80 year old grandmas? Yes!” Think about where your audience is and how to get to them.

3. Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What makes you different? Is it your genre? The way you write? Your age? Your story? Find that and use it!

4. Elevator Pitch: 30 second story about who you are. Your name, where you go to school, what you’re doing, and how they can get involved. Practice this with your family and friends. Get really good at this!

The four tips above are only SOME of the practical tips we heard from Mr. Lee. If you want to learn more from him, you can find him on his website: https://www.rogerleearts.com/

1/4/2021

Last month, at the outset of SCH’s 6th grade “Social Impact Entrepreneurship” course, we posed the following questions to our students: “Who is a social entrepreneur?” and “What does it mean for a business to have social impact?” Out in the wilds of the open internet, our middle school researchers found some pretty nebulous definitions. Fully realizing that there was a chance that they left this webquest with more questions than answers, we sought out additional kid-friendly explanations of these concepts.

Enter, teen CEO Mikaila Ulmer’s new memoir: Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid. In this tween-friendly read, Ulmer chronicles the inspiring story of how she grew her business -- Me & The Bees Lemonade -- out of the drive to better understand and protect pollinators. Today, the business donates 10 percent of net profits to honey bee conservation efforts, supporting organizations like Heifer International, Texas Beekeepers Association, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Ulmer’s relatable story provides concrete examples that transform the abstract idea of a “social entrepreneur” into a real person. She narrates how her entire business -- its mission, vision, goals, strategic plan -- are all structured around consideration of environmental and social impact . . . this means thinking consequentially and beyond the “bottom line.” It also means questioning every decision, a process which Ulmer captures brilliantly in this excerpt:

So if you’re struggling to find a way to get the 6th-8th grade set to connect ethics to economics (costs and benefits, anyone?) and to inspire the young entrepreneurs in your life, check out this book. Your students -- their parents and their communities -- will thank you for it.

1/4/2021

Wow, what a great read for a new (and seasoned) small business owner. The way that Mikaila Ulmer describes business concepts is human friendly! (Not to mention KID FRIENDLY! — which is exciting as an entrepreneur teacher of a 6th grade class.)

One of my favorite stories in the book illustrated how Mikaila's parents operated with her. Her parents took her to the bank to open up a savings account with the $15 she made from one of her earlier lemonade stands. Instead of walking up with her to the bank teller's booth, Mikaila's parents made her go up alone. (Keep in mind she was 4 1/2 years old!) Mikaila wrote: “They were reinforcing the lesson that I had a voice and was important and I could speak for myself.”

This is important for me to see as a teacher who works with young students. Every human has strength -- and as a teacher, we can remind students of their own and give them more opportunities to practice their strength!

Below are a few important quotes from the initial chapters of Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid.