Student Entrepreneurs

Any child can be an entrepreneur! In Lower School at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, the entrepreneur mindset is fostered through project-based activities and design-thinking in the traditional classroom. When our students reach Grade 5, they begin to enter specialized CEL courses that build knowledge in areas outside of traditional education, such as collaboration in business, new media, coding, and engineering. These classes provide the supportive space to experiment, play, and learn from failure. In Grade 10, students have the ability to engage in the CEL Capstone—a unique, self-directed project design experience. With the support of dedicated faculty mentors and access to specialized studios, students bring ideas inspired by their personal passions to life using the skills learned in previous CEL classes. Students may elect to continue their work in their junior and senior years through the Venture Accelerator, while some of our Upper Schoolers even continue their venture beyond SCH Academy walls.

Watching a child stand in front of a room full of seasoned business people and articulate their economic model and go-to-market strategy will forever change your opinion of what kids are capable of.

MICHAEL GOLDEN
Co-Founder of GSI Commerce and SCH Parent

Lower School students work in teams to solve real-world problems using empathy, creativity, and design thinking. Every year, Pre-K through Grade 4 students tackle at least one unique CEL project. They channel boundless creativity and curiosity into real-world challenges by solving problems for others—including peers, school leaders, and even animals. Students are often inspired to pursue environmentally-focused ventures as they observe the nature surrounding our 62-acre campus. Through these design-thinking experiences, they learn to see problems as opportunities to create solutions.

For example, our youngest entrepreneurs begin to develop their skills and mindset through project-based activities, such as providing a safe place for hibernating insects in the winter. In the past, our Kindergarteners have designed and built a "Mini Beast Mansion" in the Wissahickon woods! 

Lower School CEL Curriculum

Middle Schoolers at SCH Academy begin specialized CEL courses that build knowledge in areas outside of traditional education: business, new media, coding, engineering, communication, and collaboration. These classes provide the supportive space to experiment, play, and learn from failure. 

These Middle School entrepreneurship classes include digital storytelling (audio + video), LEGO robotics, digital publishing, environmental technology, intro to app development, electronics and microprocessors, and more.

Middle School CEL Curriculum

Between Capstone and Venture Accelerator, our high school entrepreneurs are finding real-world problems and creating applicable solutions. Students, such as Caroline Reitmeyer '21, have taken issues like eliminating single-use plastics from our ocean and created a program that turns those plastics into 3-d printer filament, Another student, Zach Schapiro '21, launched a mobile app called Election Accomplice for iOS, which was designed to engage students in the election process just in time for the November 2020 election. 

Other projects include addressing addiction in the criminal justice system, an organic lip balm company that donates all proceeds earned to Operation Smile, and a nonprofit that aids the local homeless population by donating backpacks filled with necessities like toothbrushes, utensils, socks, wipes, and more.

By emphasizing an entrepreneurial mindset and integrating problem solving and design thinking across all SCH curriculums, the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) gives SCH students a competitive edge—both in college and our rapidly changing job market.

While attending SCH Academy, Evan Weinstein '15 developed an interest in 3D printers and chocolate—specifically the idea of liberating bespoke chocolates from the confines of the bar and the mold. He went on to pursue his interest as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering. He is the winner of the Miller Innovation Fellowship at Penn and was accepted into the Pennovation Accelerator Program.

Head over to Alumni Stories to read more about our accomplished entrepreneur program graduates!

CEL has given me a lot of opportunities that I couldn't find anywhere else—opportunities like getting a full ride to college in San Francisco, making powerful mentor connections, and launching my own clothing line with customers and a live website. Where else can a high school student get that?

BOBBY 
Class of 2019