探索北京乐成国际学校学生们可持续发展的创业精神-学校资讯-国际学校网

探索北京乐成国际学校学生们可持续发展的创业精神

发布日期：2021-12-18 09:49:14

Understanding business is an important part of everyday life. However, the ins and outs of business are often neglected in schools or relegated to after-school activities. Here at BCIS, we provide both curricular and extracurricular approaches to teach students the important skills needed in the professional world and give them many hands-on opportunities to gain practical business experience. The projects and activities offered at BCIS empower our students to explore entrepreneurship and inspire them to create their own companies that positively impact the world!

Early Entrepreneurs in the ES

On a chilly November day, the hallways of BCIS were full of little shops, with students buzzing about from one stand to the next browsing the myriad of items for sale. However, these were no ordinary stores. In fact, they were all run by our very own Grade 5 students. From carnival games to plants, from arts and crafts to toys, our students came up with creative and sustainable ideas for their shops for the rest of our community to enjoy!

5年级环保集市幕前幕后集锦

This business fair was the result of a month-long project that all Grade 5 students participated in. First, the students had to form groups and strategize about the type of business they would make. Many groups looked to past examples of successful student-run businesses, such as games with prizes. One student, Jeffery, explained his group’s inspiration for their “Lucky Box” project, stating, “I am a long-lasting BCIS student, because I started here in nursery. I had always seen the Grade 5 business competition, and it made me very passionate about economics. Seeing the projects from the last two years inspired our project this year.” Once they formed a business plan, the groups then had to go in front of a panel made up of teachers and other school leaders to present their project.

Effective communication was the key for groups when pitching their businesses. The panels worked like real-life board rooms, with teachers asking students how they planned to budget their businesses and giving constructive feedback to the groups. Students then revised their projects based on the feedback and began constructing their businesses.

G5 Business Project 2021

Over the next two weeks, students visited our wonderful BCIS MakerSpace, using the sustainable materials there to create games and products that would serve as their business items. Groups had to use their creativity and technical skills to assemble their products and manage their time wisely to prepare for the final business expo. “We had a lot of fun!” commented Rose and Nicky, two students whose project “Lucky Hoops” involved many sustainably hand-crafted prizes for students to win. They enjoyed their time in MakerSpace creating their project, as well as being able to use their crafts to donate 40% of their profits to the Chunhui Children’s Foundation.

Once our students had prepared their projects, they opened their shops to the school for business. Teachers and students from all over BCIS came to join the fun, playing games and winning prizes in support of our Grade 5 businesses. Each business was able to turn a profit, while also donating money to a good cause. Students had a blast seeing their hard work turn into real revenue, and this served as a great hands-on learning experience for the students, and a fun day for all BCISers!

The business project combined social skills, sustainability, mathematics, and more, to give students a well-rounded challenge. “We wanted to do business because it teaches the students their responsibility as producers and consumers, systems of exchange, production, supply and demand, and we also tie in the sustainable development goals,” says Kelli, a Grade 5 teacher and our Sustainability Team Leader. After completing their projects, the students learned many valuable skills in teamwork, communication, and business, as well as their responsibility to the environment when producing items. This business project is a highlight of the student’s academic activities, as well as an exciting new way for them to learn!

Business in the SS and Beyond

Taking the communication and financial skills they learn in the ES with them to Secondary School, business-savvy BCIS students join in many world-renowned business contests. Many of the extracurricular clubs at school also help learners hone their sales pitches with the advice of their peers and teachers. BCIS even hosts its own competition: Avenir.

The Avenir business competition at BCIS empowers middle and high school students to work on sustainable entrepreneurship projects, while receiving constructive feedback from industry experts. Students are tasked with collaboratively creating business proposals in line with the school motto of “working for the good of all and the sustainable development of the world.” Over the two-day contest, participants receive feedback on their proposals from a mentor, before revising and presenting their ideas to judges. Avenir provides students with an excellent environment to practice sustainable entrepreneurship, while networking with students, teachers, and business experts who share their passion.

The Avenir contest provides students a platform to test the many attributes required for starting their own enterprises. Erica, our Avenir coordinator, explains the sorts of skills that students need during the contest, saying, “Participants need to have critical thinking skills to identify a business gap, come up with innovative and practical business ideas that are aligned with the theme.” She further discusses the importance of social skills in the competition, explaining, “They need to have great communication and collaboration skills to form a team, assign different roles to their team members, create a brief yet informational presentation to pitch, write up a detailed business plan, and prepare to compete with other teams in the same age division all across China.” While the competition awards students with key learning opportunities, the winners of Avenir also receive prize money and chances to intern at local businesses!

Similar to the Grade 5 business project, Avenir covers many important learning objectives for students, while also providing them with a real business scenario that prepares them for life after school. The communication and financial skills that students gain from such opportunities can be transferred well beyond their academic journeys, and into their work lives. Several BCIS alumni have taken what they have learned from such activities and used it to start their own businesses.

BCIS Alumni and our first graduate from Class of 2009, Ruoyi, is the founder of New York-based boutique “Chop Suey Club”. The unique designs sold at Chop Suey Club feature a wonderful mix of East and West and have become widely popular in the city. Ruoyi’s dedication demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit that students at BCIS, both current and former, can gain from the many great activities the school hosts. This warrior spirit extends outside of the classroom, inspiring students with the ability and passion to change the world!

全球领先的管理思想家乌麦尔·哈克在《新商业文明》一书中指出，20世纪的商业理念是攫取利益但将成本转嫁给普通民众、社区、社会、自然环境甚至后代身上，但这样的经济模式在21世纪的今天行不通了，今天的世界像一艘方舟，方舟上的经济繁荣根本在于最大程度降低伤害，重新建构商业模式。

乐成一直致力于加强在可持续发展方面的努力，并将此理念融入到乐成的使命精神和课堂学习中。今天，我们从小学商业向善的环保集市与乐成使命紧密相连的Avenir商赛展开，一起来探索乐成学生们可持续发展的创业精神。

“这个项目让我们感受了自己创业是什么样的”

从旧物改造的幸运盒（Lucky Box），热爱地球的植物种植（Plants and Seeds），可回收的书虫环保书签（Bookworm’s Bookmarks)，再到用废弃水瓶创新制作的幸运掷圈游戏（Lucky Hoops），乐成5年级的环保集市上满是学生设计的玲琅满目的旧物改造和环保手工制品。每个集市摊位门庭若市，围满了争相打卡淘宝的学生和老师。此次集市每一个摊位所获得的所有收益都将捐出最终所得的30%到40%捐助给北京春晖博爱公益基金会，以帮助需要帮助的儿童们。

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5年级商业可持续发展研究项目的宣传片

幸运盒项目组的Jeffery的激动的说: “我从幼儿园就在乐成读书了，我之前经常看到五年级的商业竞赛，这让我开始对经济学充满了热情。过去两年的项目也启发了我们今年的项目。”

“我们玩得很开心!”幸运掷圈游戏项目成员Rose和Nicky告诉我们, “这个项目让我们感受了自己创业是什么样的，还可以帮助到小朋友们。”之后还向我们展示了项目背后有关可持续发展的设计方案。

G5 Business Commercials

项目初期学生们需要根据三个特定目标制定自己的商业计划，这三个目标是环保可持续发展的产品，明确记录所有财务开销和将部分收益捐助给慈善公益机构。制定好计划提案后，学生需要在相关专业老师们面前展示项目提案并得以反馈。接下来的两周，学生们在创客空间（Maker Space）会在老师的帮助下完成项目模型进行旧物改造和环保制作，最终将制作出的创意产品在环保集市进行销售。

在看似小打小闹的活动中，孩子们第一次对“市场、消费”有了概念。随着所学内容的增多以及领域的拓宽，这种对概念的理解也在欢声笑语中上升到更专业性的层面。在过去整整一个月的策划和筹备里，学生们学会了如何把在课堂上学到的技能运用到真实的销售场景中，为他们的毕业作品和中学学习做好了准备。

未来，绝不止于纸上谈兵

与此同时，今年获得在当地企业进行实习机会的中学学生Gretchen, Lisa，Laure 和Qinglan 告诉我们通过在The Bulk House（零浪费无包装商店）的实践经历，他们认识到接受现实和真诚的重要性。在实习的过程中，创始人Joe提到在北京零废弃商业很稀缺，他希望一些大型公司能够采纳“零废弃”和“极简主义”的理念。尽管如此，他们还是坚持商业向善，保持真诚。这个实习经历让学生们了解到可持续发展在现实中会遇到的阻碍，以便更好的提早计划和想出解决方案。

Avenir商业大赛的协调员Erika老师告诉我们，“参赛者需要具有批判性思维能力，理清自己的商业思路与主题，群策群力，精雕细琢出一份商业项目提案，并最终在专家评委面前全方位地宣讲自己的创业灵感，市场分析报告与行动方案。”

什么是北京乐成国际学校的Avenir商业大赛？

Avenir商业大赛是由乐成学生共同发起与组织，并获得澳洲昆士兰科技大学（QUT）倾力资助的年度商业竞赛。“Avenir”一词在法语中意为“未来”，大赛致力于为学生企划与举办大型活动提供丰富的机遇，为参赛者与商圈知名企业家零距离对话搭建互动平台。在竞赛为学生提供重要的学习机会的同时，Avenir的获奖者还将获得创业奖金和当地企业实习的机会。

与5年级的商业项目类似，Avenir商业大赛也为中学生们提供了一个真实的商业场景，为未来的学习和创业打下了基础。而两者均与乐成使命紧密相连, 通过不同的商业活动，我们希望无论事情大小，学生们认识到“负责任”与“采取必要行动”的深远意义，每一个人能够为世界的可持续发展献出一份薄力。