Student Entrepreneurs

CEL Venture Accelerator Students still from film clip Nov 2021

BUSINESS + DESIGN + TECHNOLOGY

The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) is committed to developing an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset in every student at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. The CEL program enhances Pre-K through Grade 12 education with learning opportunities and classes that empower students to shape their futures and the world.

Led by Executive Director Ed Glassman ’03, SCH Academy’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) connects classroom learning with real-world innovation. Ed, a former innovation consultant in Chicago and former Executive Director of the Chicago Innovation Awards, has guided hundreds of students in launching ventures, designing solutions, and creating meaningful impact. He holds a master’s in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania and is dedicated to helping students develop the creativity, confidence, and problem-solving skills that define the entrepreneurial mindset.

What is CEL at SCH?

Entrepreneurial mindset

At SCH, entrepreneurship is a way of thinking and problem-solving. CEL develops four core traits: opportunity seeking, creative problem solving, resiliency, and resourcefulness. Embedded in the curriculum, project-based challenges help students apply skills in business, design, and technology—preparing them to pursue their passions and graduate with a competitive edge.

Hear From our Student Entrepreneurs

CEL Through the Years

SPARKING CURIOSITY & CREATIVITY

Lower School students use empathy, creativity, and design thinking to solve challenges for peers, school leaders, and the environment, such as building a “Mini Beast Mansion” to provide winter shelter for insects, turning curiosity and imagination into practical, hands-on solutions that make a real difference in their community.

Experimenting and Innovating

Middle Schoolers expand their skills in coding, robotics, media, engineering, and entrepreneurship, experimenting through hands-on projects that encourage collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving, giving students the freedom to test ideas, learn from failure, and build confidence while exploring real-world challenges that inspire innovation and meaningful solutions for their communities.

Turning Ideas into Real-World Impact

High School students take their ideas further in Capstone and Venture Accelerator, developing ventures that address real-world problems, from transforming ocean plastics into 3D printer filament to creating apps, launching nonprofits, and designing socially responsible products, cultivating leadership, creativity, and practical skills that prepare them to impact the world.

Upper School CEL Curriculum

Meet the CEL Faculty

SCH's CEL faculty is a multidisciplinary team with experience across design, engineering, app development, business, and nonprofit leadership, dedicated to helping students turn bold ideas into reality.

Our Entrepreneurial Stories

Start Building Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Three young men in formal attire standing in front of a backdrop with the text %22INQUIRE%22 and various logos.

The image shows a group of people gathered in a space labeled %22Prototype Playground%22, which appears to be an event or showcase for entrepreneurial and leadership initiatives.

Two young women standing in front of a backdrop with the text %22CEL%22 and other logos, one wearing a white top and pleated skirt, the other wearing a black top, both with their hands clasped in front of them.