A Founder Talks Social Entrepreneurship
Editor's note:
In September 2021, Daystar Academy is launching the Social Entrepreneurship Program, or SEP, for all of our High School Students. As a foundational course, it is required for all of our students.
The SEP emphasizes design thinking and real-world skill application. It is the first of its kind in the country to focus on developing students’ innovation skills and creative thinking through solving real-world problems.
Recently, Jack Hsu, board member and founder of Ivy Education Group sat for an in-depth interview and talked about his background and experience and why he is driven to create a program that equips students with the skills and mindset of social entrepreneurs.
●The Driving Philosophy Behind Daystar’s Social Entrepreneurship Program●
In 1984, the Ministry of Education in Singapore started a nation-wide experimental program, selecting 100 gifted young students and placing them in an innovative education program. This came to be known as the Gifted Education Programme, or GEP. This program has brought forth a great number of diverse talents and contributed to Singapore’s rise as an economic powerhouse with a focus on developing human capital. Jack Hsu, CEO of the Ivy Education Group, was one of the 100 students selected for the program when he completed elementary school.
Even 20 years later, Jack can still feel the deep influence of this innovative education approach. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, he did not pursue investment banking or finance like many of his classmates. Instead, he found himself headed for the education industry and founded the Ivy Education Group.
The greatest thing that Jack leaned from his experience with the GEP was the importance of a good education. It showed him how education would influence one’s choice in life. While most of the elite in Singapore would go on to become doctors, lawyers, and bankers, the GEP instead has seen its graduates choose to pursue many diverse fields. This is a direct result of the non-traditional program of the GEP where creativity and leadership are greatly emphasized. “For example, I chose to come to China to be an entrepreneur in education”, said Jack.
An education is not complete without developing students’ sense of responsibility toward society. There was a compulsory course in the GEP curriculum for moral and emotional education, which focused on character development and the development of good habits for younger students and an understanding of self, family, community, one’s nation and the world at large for senior students.
“The goal many parents set for their children is to be admitted by a top university. They feel that when that goal is achieved, their responsibilities as parents will be fulfilled as well, and their children will go on to lead happy lives. I don’t share this view.
The happiness that comes from being admired by others because of personal success is short-lived, because it is a joy derived from others. The ultimate goal of education should be to make the community around you and the world a better place, and to empower people to live more rewarding lives and reach their full potentials.
Students at those prestigious schools and international bilingual schools like Daystar Academy are fortunate and privileged enough to be among the best educated 1%. They are more capable of making a difference and should take the lead in addressing the social issues and challenges that are out there today. The joy obtained from making the positive changes comes from within and is more sustainable.”
And that is why Jack has introduced the Social Entrepreneurship Program to Daystar Academy’s Secondary School.
“A major problem facing students in bilingual or international schools is that they live in a bubble, disconnected from the real world, which is actually quite alarming”, Jack said. Daystar’s Social Entrepreneurship Program encourages students to be more concerned with what’s happening in the world, to go out there and see it for themselves, to think deeply and creatively, to find ways to help others, and help push the society to move forward in a sustainable way, rather than to be only concerned with their own self-interest.
With SEP, high school students have the opportunity to look at real problems and address the real-world issues in projects that they initiate in a hands-on environment, serve internships at various organizations, and sharpen advanced skills such as design thinking, transformational leadership and decision-making that are in high demand in a modern society. Students are encouraged to step out of their ivory tower and to be in touch with the real world, preparing them to make a positive difference to the world in the future.
●Social Entrepreneurship Program: What can students contribute to society? ●
From Grade 11, all secondary school students at Daystar Academy will take Social Entrepreneurship Program as a required course in addition to the IBDP curriculum.
Jack said that, “For me, the most impressive part about this program is that the SEP curriculum not only includes courses that are built in close connection with real world, such as Social Entrepreneurship 101, Transformational Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship, Innovation Design, Marketing Communication Strategy, etc, where you can learn the necessary entrepreneurial and business skill, it also affords abundant opportunities for internship and hands-on learning. For example, students will visit social enterprises and companies and get up close with community-based enterprises that provide innovative solutions to social, cultural, environmental problems, or even start and run a social project themselves!”
He continues, “This is a great opportunity for the students to really apply what they have learned to making a positive change to the world!”
Daystar is teaming up with enterprises and organizations to provide students with internship opportunities and competitions. Jack serves as a Board member of the Columbia University Global Center in Beijing and will invite professors from Columbia to discuss global issues with Daystar students. He also introduced Columbia Business School’s Venture For All program to Daystar, further allowing secondary school students to explore and apply entrepreneurial thinking and the process of starting a business. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in global entrepreneurship competitions hosted by Columbia University.
●Innovative from K to 12 ●
The spirit of innovation has lived in the genes of Daystar Academy since its founding in 2002. Daystar Academy was founded as a social entrepreneurship project.
When Ms. Dawn Vermilya, founder of Daystar Academy, and her husband moved to Beijing from US, they wanted to find a bilingual and bi-cultural school for their three kids. They found nothing that met their expectation. So instead, Dawn decided to build one from the ground up and founded Daystar Academy in 2002.
“Looking back, Daystar is an embodiment of the spirit of social entrepreneurship.” Dawn told us with a smile.
From the beginning, Dawn, as the school principal, has insisted on placing equal importance on building character along with academic rigor. She believed that academic achievement is only part of the picture. To ensure that students make good use of what they learn, Daystar Academy educates students about 20 virtues such as respect, excellence, service, etc., from a very young age.
At Daystar, we begin to nurture the will to make the community and the world a better place from Kindergarten. Children at Kindergarten often get together to talk about ways to make positive impact on your community. “Last year, the Kindergarten students came up with a fun idea. They noticed how grownups look unhappy and don’t smile enough. So they initiated a project to bring more smiles to the world around them. Their strategy was straightforward by simply walking up to a grownup who appeared unhappy and smiling at them.” Jack recalled. Just imagine this would bring smile to you. Their attempt reflected their good will to change the world for the better.
Once they are in Secondary School, Daystar students will work on Projects for Change and the world-renowned High Resolves program. Daystar Academy is the first school to introduce High Resolves to China and incorporate it into its curriculum. For Secondary School students, it’s time to put their knowledge and skills that they gained from Elementary School to the test. It’s time for action.
In the High Resolves Program students learn through project-based learning, think about and discuss real-world issues, develop their sense of being a world citizen through an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving.
For instance, by dividing the world’s population into 4 groups based on their level of income, students discovered that the number of people fall into the richest and poorest group are almost the same. What light does it shed on the thinking and tackling of the issue of global poverty? Another example is to look at the way we help people. When it comes to helping people in need, we often think of helping people through charitable causes. But will charity address the root cause of a problem? What’s the true meaning of charity?
By Grade 11 and 12, all of their previous learning continues to be advanced and enriched through the unique and innovative Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP), which supports each and every Daystar student to become a responsible and reliable person with an entrepreneurial mindset and skills.
From Kindergarten through to age 18, students spend every year at Daystar Academy equipping themselves to make meaningful changes to the world. Among the many bilingual schools operating in China, such a philosophy is certainly unique. And this philosophy aligns with the qualities sought by the admissions staff of elite universities.
●Everyone has a unique story to tell●
In 2016, Harvard Graduate School of Education published a report titled Turning the Tide, in which it described concerns for others and a focus on the common good through college admissions. It argues that college admissions should place more emphasis on students who are compassionate towards others and who demonstrate passion for learning and serving their community. A new collective statement from 315 college (including all eight Ivy League Universities) admissions deans also prioritized self-care and care for others during the pandemic last year, sending a clear message about what college admissions deans value in students during this time. Service and contributions to others, and extracurricular activities are among the key areas for assessment.
“We wish to encourage in students self-care, balance, meaningful learning and care for others.”
“We value students’ authentic and meaningful contribution or service to others.”
“We wish to promote more meaningful contributions to others, community service and engagement with the public good. ”
More and more universities in the US begin to rely less and less on the SAT scores and value more, among other things, demonstrated compassion towards others, contributions to others and making a positive difference.
In this context, it is becoming increasingly important to create your narrative and tell your story.
The Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) serves as an integral part of students ‘personal admissions story’. In the long run, it enriches students’ learning experience, offers them a useful lens through which to look at the world and their role in it. It also empowers students to drive meaningful change in the world, making it a truly future-oriented education program.
“One of our goals is to send our students to the Top 20 universities in the world. But we do not stop there. We have higher aspirations for them. And that is to make the world a better place with their actions”, Jack concluded.
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