Want students to work hard? Give them a purpose. Buckley’s 5th grade social entrepreneurs did just that. The project was designed to inspire our students to empathize with an issue in need of attention, whether locally, nationally, or globally. The students learn about social enterprises and NGOs, microfinancing, and marketing; with this background, they created their own simulated social enterprise for their causes.

When students take informed action for something they care about, it fuels their desire to learn. It develops leadership skills to effect real change, and it provides the confidence to take action in a determined way. While their social enterprises mimicked real ones, their actions did not. Under the guidance of humanities teachers, Patricia Russac and Natasha Chadha, these students research actual individuals, groups, and organizations related to their causes using the resources on the website the humanities teachers built specifically for the project. The students relied on a wide selection of literature that emphasized the power of personal initiative to bring about change, and more importantly, to give back to others.

The students presented their ideas to the school community at the “Social Entrepreneur Expo” using interactive displays. To support their causes, they designed, printed and packaged their own notecards to raise funds. The revenue generated from the sales was used to make microloans through Kiva.org. Through their efforts, they made over 66 loans in 25 countries; this included 11 different sectors from agriculture to education as well as over 30 types of activities. To date, Buckley students have lent over $5,500.

Creating opportunities for student agency and empowerment mirrors real-life. The students transferred their understanding of what it meant to be a social entrepreneur inside the classroom to help others outside the classroom. Now that’s a true, life lesson.

We could not be prouder of our students.