Stories from the Field: Grade 7-10 Students Working with the Canvas

Flourishing Business Community
Speakers Series: Stories from the Field #17

Grade 7-10 Students Working with the Canvas with Casey Sherriffs and Ondine Hogeboom

Date: Tuesday, November 12

16h00 UTC – 08h00 PST, 11h00 EST, 15h00 BST, 16h00 CET, 01h00 JST (+1 day).  To convert UTC to your timezone, click here

Duration: 1 hour

Registration: Required via Eventbrite at bit.ly/SFF17-Register

For our seventeenth monthly flourishing business community speaker series: stories from the field, the community is delighted to welcome Casey Sherriffs, from Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School and Ondine Hogeboom from Flourishing Startups, both based in Montreal, Quebec.

Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School (ECS) came to life in 1909, by two trailblazing women who envisioned opening a school for girls. They believed that an exceptional education could unlock a world of possibilities. ECS continues to remain true to its roots; from kindergarten to Grade 11.  ECS nurtures the potential of every girl, igniting her confidence and sense of agency. ECS takes a 360-degree approach to learning that has made them a leader in educational innovation. With STEAM, a bilingual programme, philanthropy, a wealth of co-curriculars and our signature Entrepreneurial Platform there are significant opportunities to support the next generation of women leaders.

Casey has 14 years of experience as a Grade 5 teacher, with a solid background in elementary education. She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology and has completed the Independent School Leadership diploma through the Canadian Association for Independent Schools. For the past two years, Casey has been the Director of the Entrepreneurial Platform at ECS, overseeing the strategic vision and planning for the platform, which spans kindergarten to grade 11. In this role, Casey has also recruited external coaches to work alongside students and support internal coaching teams.

Ondine is the Co-founder and Director of Flourishing Startups and is a Program Design Consultant for the Entrepreneurship Platform at ECS. A seasoned impact-centred entrepreneur, she has launched seven successful ventures across three countries. Ondine developed the Flourishing Start-Up Method (FSM), which focuses on overlooked aspects of startup design. A fellow at Georgian College, she has coached over 300 entrepreneurs and designed programs for 8,000+ startups in 14 countries. Ondine holds an MBA, certifications in coaching and mindfulness, and is the author of the soon-to-launch book Flourishing Startups. 

Last year, all ECS students from grades 7-10 (aged 12-16)  worked in groups on year-long entrepreneurship project, each focused on addressing a specific aspect of a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of their choice. The Flourishing Business Canvas (FBC) was introduced to help students explore and understand key elements of their entrepreneurial ideas. They engaged with the FBC during the activation stage of their projects  and adjustments were made as they learned from the world about their project ideas.  In the  first year using the FBC, the team evaluated its value, usability, accessibility, and appeal with students. 

In order to introduce the canvas the team also tested new teaching methods to promote self-directed, experiential learning, to enable  students to actively engage with the FBC. 

“As we move into the second year of programming, we’re refining how we introduce the FBC components to different grade levels, but we’re still confident in our decision to expose students to all sections during their first experience with it.” Casey Sherriffs 

During their talk, Casey and Ondine will highlight:

• Why our entrepreneurial program is of value for high-school-aged students
• Comparison of activating student ideas before and after using the Canvas
• The design of the pedagogy and teaching approach to support canvas exploration
• What worked, what were some obstacles, and student feedback quotes
• The use of the FBC tool within varied projects (event planning, social media campaigns, prototyping)
• What does ECS hope to gain from participating in the Flourishing Business Community?
• What can ECS offer to the community?

At the end of their talk, Casey and Ondine will take questions from members of the community.

After the event, a video of the talk plus slides will be shared in the “Speaker Series” space of the Flourishing Business Community. Please join other flourishing business leaders and become a full member to access.