What has been keeping Kelli so busy?

I have been busier than usual this year because I have taken on a few large projects in addition to my normal teaching assignment. Those two projects are the training for the IB coordinator job and the social entrepreneurship club. Read on to learn about these exciting projects.

1. I have been training this year to take over the job of coordinator of our International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the high school. This job is endless--all the public relations, communication with parents, students, the IB organization, the community, the teachers, all media, all registration, testing, payments, community building, fund raising, teacher training, the transcripts for colleges, outreach to universities, record keeping, follow up with graduates . . . I feel like I could work on this job 24 hours a day and never sleep. It is the kind of situation where I just have to find my own boundaries. BUT, I am also incredibly excited about this opportunity. IB is the best college preparation available. It fosters creative and analytical thinking in students rather than just asking them to memorize names and dates. It has a mission statement that calls people to action and service. The IB requires teachers and students to see themselves in the larger context of our global community and to become an active and positive part of that community. This is a fantastic program, and I am thrilled that I get to be a part of it. You can go to http://ibo.org if you would like to learn more about the program. I have been teaching IB English since our school first became an IB school in 2004, but now I am also the coordinator of the program. Unlike when I was training, I will not teach a full load and will have a large portion of my day free to work on the many projects associated with the job. It is sure to be a challenge, but I am looking forward to learning and growing and stretching myself this year.

2. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. We are starting a social entrepreneurship club at our school to support all of the students who need to do service hours to fulfill class requirements or the IB requirements. To that end we are hosting an incredible speaker at our school this fall who I saw speak last year and invited back. He is dynamic, passionate, and inspirational. My students are going to be so ready to be a part of making our world a better place. I have been meeting with all kinds of nonprofits in our community and encouraging them to be a part of our club, to mentor our students and share their expertise. They are so excited to be a part of this youth movement. I walk away from every meeting a few feet above the ground because we are working on such an incredible project that can really empower our students. This has been keeping me inspired and very busy.

“The most important thing you can do is live a meaningful life, and being of service to others is one of the greatest ways to make life meaningful.The potential and power of individuals throughout the world to bring about positive change is enormous, and never before have we lived in an era so ripe with opportunities to make a difference.” Desmond Tutu in The Tactics of Hope

What are some examples of social entrepreneurship?
*Zach Hunter was in seventh grade when he learned about the global slave trade and formed a group called Loose Change to Loosen Chains (LC2LC). He raised $8,500 in his first year. Since then his campaign has ballooned.
*Phoebe Coburn, a 14 year old girl from Jackson Hole, WY leaned that there are hardly any books available for children to read the Khumbu region of Nepal near Mount Everest. So she started collecting books, raising money and shipping the books to Nepal for the Magic Yeti Library for children. This is the first in a series of libraries she hopes to stock with books over the years ahead. Phoebe has even traveled to Nepal to help paint the library and catalogue the books.(The Tactics of Hope)

For more information:
Look at these other organizations and what they are doing.
Youth Venture http://www.genv.net/en-us/about_youth_venture
SAGE http://www.sageglobal.org
David Hopkins http://www.tacticsofhope.org/
Not For Sale http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
Invisible Children http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

Read these books about social entrepreneurship.
The Tactics of Hope—Wilford Welch and David Hopkins—Available at the book room at FHS
Be the Change: Your Guide to Ending Slavery and Changing the World—Zach Hunter
Mountains beyond Mountains—Tracy Kidder
Banker to the Poor—Muhammad Yunu
Three Cups of Tea—Greg Mortenson—Available at the book room at FHS
Half the Sky—Kristof and Wundunn
Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It--David Batstone