By Mary Hammers, Hillbrook writer
COVID-19 couldn’t stop the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship from creating an impactful summer for young learners. Though most plans for in-person camps were derailed by the pandemic, The Scott Center rallied to create a dozen powerful camp experiences to help students learn about the world and how they can make a positive impact on issues that matter to them, while also having fun creating, designing, exploring and discussing. More than 100 campers took part in a variety of camps where among other things, they explored social justice through the magical world of Harry Potter, developed an entrepreneurial pitch for investors, and learned about civic engagement by exploring how government works.
For Annie Makela, Director of the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship, her summer camp plans (which began in earnest last October) were turned upside down by Covid 19. Pandemic-related restrictions meant a quick pivot to convert the center’s summer camp plans from in-person to mostly virtual experiences in a matter of weeks. Says Makela, “It was a chance for our vision as a center to be truly tested: we teach learners to see the world as it is, imagine what it might be and partner with our communities to make a positive impact on people and the planet. This was our chance to practice what we preach, but it didn’t come without heartbreak, frustration and mounds of extra work”. The Scott Center team not only pulled it off, they found the shift to virtual programs had some unexpected benefits, too. “It allowed current, former and “never-knew-Hillbrook” students to be a part of camp. We had 14 students participate in the camps who were new to Hillbrook this fall, so camp served as their entry to the school,” says Makela.
One of the camps, Empowerful Girls, centered around the word “empowerful” and what it means to feel powerful and to be empowered. Students created empowerful dance moves and handshakes, and even designed an empowerful emoji, which they formally submitted to Apple for consideration. The week ended with an inspiring guest speaker, Shabana Basij-Rasikh who spoke about the importance of gender equality and education, sharing her own journey of having to dress up as a boy to go to a secret school while growing up in Afghanistan.
During the Scott Center Civic Institute camp, middle schoolers learned about civic life and how politics can further or hinder social justice. Each day campers looked at changemakers and used team-based simulations to explore how activism and government effect change in the world. For instance, Associate Director of the Scott Center Matt Callahan, says, “We used Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis to discuss how their use of media pushed the federal government to action and compared that to the Black Lives Matter movement today”. 8th grade camper Lauren D says she liked learning about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and debating the pros and cons of her proposed Green New Deal. Says Lauren, “I really enjoyed the camp because it gave me the opportunity to discuss topics we don’t normally talk about in class and I had a lot of fun doing it.” Students used what they had learned in camp to develop a mock-Congress Reach Beyond Block for HIllbrook students. Callahan says one of his campers who attends St. Martin of Tours School was so inspired by the camp that he wrote to his principal suggesting the add a section about social justice and the civil rights movement.
Another camp offering, Harry Potter Alliance For Impact gave young “Muggles” the chance to become Hogwarts students for a week while exploring the world of Harry Potter through a lens that was both imaginative and analytical. The camp looked at the ways in which themes such as privilege and activism play out in the Harry Potter books. Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship Fellow, Fiona Maloney-McCrystle who led the camp used a “choose your own adventure” approach where campers met at the beginning of the day for a check-in, plus group games at the end, but in the middle, they could choose from two activity options. These included activities such as making magical potions to help the environment, weaving construction paper bookmarks in their house colors, writing letters to favorite Harry Potter characters, and designing new, magical creatures. Maloney-McCrystle says using Harry Potter themes to talk about topics from climate change to gender equity made the camp both magical and impactful, “Drawing parallels or enumerating contrasts between the two worlds (wizarding and muggle) was a powerful way to approach a key part of the Scott Center’s vision: to see the world as it is and imagine what it might be.”
These summer camp experiences reflect the social impact/entrepreneurship learning that Hillbrook students from JK-8 enjoy year-round through the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Hillbrook. This school year is no different. There are two new classes in middle school: a 6th grade class called Identity and Impact where students are diving deep into issues of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), conflict resolution, and restorative justice. Says Makela, “The goal is to give this amazing group of students the toolkit, skillset, and space to explore the core question of the Scott Center: what matters to you and what are you doing about it?” Additionally, there’s also a new year-long module for 8th graders, Social Impact Leadership, which is an extension and application of the capstone project at Hillbrook, and a new segment at virtual flag called What Matters to Me where students, families and faculty all have the opportunity to share about a topic that matters to them.
The Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship was established in 2017 and is a first-of-its-kind in the world as a space for JK-8 social entrepreneurship and impact learning. It was born out of Hillbrook’s goal to inspire children to reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world. The vision of the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship is to see the world as it is, to imagine what it might be and partner with your local communities to make change. To learn more about the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship, click here.