When devastating earthquakes upended the lives of thousands halfway across the world in Turkey, our Upper School students wanted to help. Their teachers, Mrs. Cummings and Mr. Neary encouraged them to think of ways they could do that and the students started to passionately brainstorm ideas:

"We could send water, clothes, food.
What if we raised money?
How could we raise money?
We could have a bake sale."

Mrs. Cummings and Mr. Neary saw the larger opportunity here and presented the students with some questions:

"Do you know how to bake cookies?
What do you need to make cookies?
Is one bake sale enough?"

Born from their collective desire to help those in need, an entrepreneurial project sprung forth. The Upper School students, ages 11-13, created a non-profit business from the ground up that they named Bake The World A Better Place.

Mrs. Cummings and Mr. Neary were named co-CEOs to oversee all operations and provide the students with guidance, but the entire project was essentially student-run and organized.

“The kids did everything from the very start,” comments Cummings. “They came up with the name, created a business plan and budget, logo and website, assigned job functions, bought supplies. They did absolutely everything.”

To start, the students decided to offer two types of cookies, an original Oreo-style recipe and a gluten- and dairy-free offering. They created test batches which they distributed to other classrooms with surveys asking for feedback.

“Their first attempt wasn’t exactly successful. They forgot the flour, but they learned from it and made adjustments,” adds Cummings.

The Bake The World A Better Place project touches on two of the pillars of IMPACT learning that Hampstead Academy focuses on: Stewardship & Global Issues as well as Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The latter is especially relevant, as these Upper School aged students are at a critical stage in their social and emotional development. Learning how to persevere as they embrace challenges and opportunities with imagination and compassion is vital to building the self-esteem and confidence needed to face the social and academic rigors of high school.

By identifying barriers and designing their own solutions, these students also learned more than just the technical skills of fundraising or baking. The experience provided a holistic view of what it takes to develop, articulate, pitch and sell a product to achieve a profitable outcome. This requires deeper-level thinking and problem-solving than most middle school-aged children face in a typical classroom environment.

With feedback from their first product development attempt in hand, the students returned to their local grocery store and were able to take a tour of its bakery operations and receive some production advice. During this time they were also approached by an investor.

“It was like watching a mini version of Shark Tank. Robert, one of our board members, was very impressed by their project and wanted to support it,” comments Mr. Neary. “The students prepared and made a presentation to him which led to an investment contract.”

“Bake The World A Better Place is a perfect example of the kind of immersive learning that IMPACT is about,” adds Robert Landeau, Hampstead Academy Board Member. “The lessons these kids are learning through this project are so much deeper than any they would achieve through traditional classroom learning and are at such a higher level than that being taught in any middle school.”

The kids met with the school’s facility director, Jay Orzechowski, to learn about proper hygiene as well as the health and safety considerations necessary for operating a commercial kitchen. They met with an accountant and learned how to analyze the cost of goods sold and profits earned. They did copious amounts of research and many hours of learning by trial and error.

“The teachers guided rather than led. They would point out barriers, but not remove them for the students,” adds Neary. “At times this was difficult for both the teachers and the students, but overcoming those challenges was the learning opportunity and where the growth happened.”

“The things these kids are talking about now I didn’t learn or understand until I was an adult,” laughs Neary. “They truly understand the world of business at the age of 12. Imagine where they’ll be after they go through three years of middle school?”

Through some careful analysis, the students of Bake The World A Better Place determined that a bake-your-own model is more efficient and profitable. Similar to meal kit delivery services, they have shifted their operations to a take-and-bake model as their academic unit comes to a close. When the project is complete, the money raised will be sent to earthquake victims through World Central Kitchen.

“The critical higher-end thinking that they are doing on their own is amazing,” says Neary. “They are able to problem solve and not be afraid of it. These kids will be confident and equipped to succeed at any high school, anywhere.”