Ed Glassman began his career as an innovation and design consultant in Chicago, developing new products and services for Fortune 500 companies. During his time in consulting, Ed also served as Executive Director of The Chicago Innovation Awards, where he developed entrepreneurial programs and educational experiences for Chicago high school students. Ed took his interest in education and entrepreneurship further in 2008, when he partnered with a small team to build Tribeca Flashpoint College; a media arts and design college in the heart of Chicago.
 
In 2014 Edward moved home to Philadelphia and began his work at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy as the Executive Director of The Sands Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. He has mentored hundreds of students of all ages as they bring their ideas for products, services, and non-profit organizations to life. Ed holds a masters degree from The University of Pennsylvania in Education Entrepreneurship, and believes that the entrepreneurial mindset—one of reliance, resourcefulness, and innovative problem solving—is a powerful framework for education.
 

CEL is amazing to me, because we treat our students like true colleagues and partners. We take their ideas seriously, and set them up to pursue that work in real and meaningful ways. We prioritize process over product. The videos you will see on this site are the end result of months, or in some cases, years of work. Along the way they are learning incredibly valuable lessons about resilience, resourcefulness, creativity, and problem solving. 

CHA lifer Peter Randall graduated magna cum laude in Systems Engineering from Princeton University ’73 and Operations Management from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania ’74. After a 10-year stint in Corporate America with Xerox Corp and CIGNA, Peter started his first entrepreneurial enterprise, consulting and developing software for the new personal computer market. After 15 years on his own, Peter joined with two colleagues to found NetReach Inc., an Internet development company. While serving on the board of CHA, Peter nominated himself for the role of CHA’s Director of Technology. Peter then created the Engineering & Robotics Department at SCH, becoming its first Chairman. Under his guidance, students have built hundreds of sophisticated projects including robots, drones and even a full sized, 4 passenger airplane.  In 2019, the SCH Upper School Robotics Team won the World Championship in the FIRST Robotics Competition from amongst the 7,000 schools participating.

CEL allows students to explore a topic of personal interest with guidance from their faculty advisors. This helps them develop the skills of self-motivation and persistence. They are forced to own their own education as they are both the leader of their project as well as the workforce. The shift from a grade based motivation to do great work to self motivation is a new experience for most of the class.

James Martin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics and music from Colgate University and a graduate degree in mechanical engineering and technology from Drexel University. After spending a number of years playing music up and down the east coast and working in New York City as an audio engineer for a post-production broadcast TV company, James returned to Philadelphia and began teaching at SCH Academy in 2008. Initially, he helped Martin Baumberger update the existing physics curriculum and worked with both Peter Randall and Rob Ervin in the Engineering and Robotics Department. In addition to continuing to teach, James has recently been studying mechanical engineering, technology, education, physics, and computer science in order to continue his pursuit as a lifelong learner. He enjoys the yearly, weekly, and daily challenges that present themselves while building robots, engineering projects, and working with students.

The CEL program allows students to explore and discover passions and interests that are new, exciting, and challenging. It introduces students to collaborative and creative problem solving, with the goal of providing meaningful conclusions for everyone involved, both the student and the audience.

Paris Gramann is one of our newest additions to the CEL 10 team. She owns 2 small Social Impact Businesses: Just Be Books LLC (a children's book series for mental health and additional product line) and Empower Creative Agency LLC (a project management company for creative endeavors). Paris loves to create things, empower others, and solve complicated problems in innovative ways. You'll find her doing graphic design, making timelines/goals with students, and scheduling meetings on her calendar.

CEL is such an amazing opportunity for students to get time allotted to a special (and self directed) project of their choosing—especially during such a busy time in their young adulthoods.