From 9–10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, Elisabeth Morrow School students will lead a purposeful, student-led Farmers Market. The event showcases a masterclass in student agency, with fourth graders owning every detail — from the financial literacy required to manage the venture to the application of scientific knowledge around environmental sustainability and the complex logistical mapping of the market itself.
This event is the live culmination of the Fourth-Grade Leadership Symposium, a year-long course designed to empower our students to become confident leaders who think critically, communicate boldly, and create positive change. While the market is a celebration of our students’ work, the deeper success is the intentional leadership journey that transformed these students into social entrepreneurs.
This experience is guided by a collaborative teaching team — Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D., educational specialist Jacklyn Beck, and fourth-grade teachers Jenna Chittenden and Paige Zlotolow — who facilitate the Leadership Symposium’s four intentional building blocks: Leadership Foundations (self-awareness, empathy), Communication & Collaboration (public speaking, teamwork, conflict resolution), Service & Social Impact, and finally, the Capstone Project.
This multi-disciplinary approach allows students to see how leadership functions across different fields — from the science in the greenhouse to the logistics of an event launch. Each building block is designed to expand the student’s leadership toolkit, ensuring that by the time they reach their capstone, they aren’t just participating in an event; they are managing a mission.
“Students’ leadership development accelerated exponentially when they evolved from leading one-time food drives to long-term advocacy that addresses the root causes of food insecurity within our local communities,” says Dr. Beck. “By stepping into the role of social entrepreneurs, our students are moving beyond a single act of service to build an authentic platform for leadership in action.”
The Spark oF Inquiry
The course transitioned from theory to practice during our highly successful schoolwide food drive in November, which collected nearly 1,000 pounds of food for the Center for Food Action. After the delivery trucks were loaded, a much bigger question arose from the students: “What happens after the food we collected runs out?”
The students’ curiosity regarding the long-term impact of their work provided the natural bridge into their final capstone: our inaugural Farmers Market. “What made this experience transformative was the shift into real-world application,” says Jacklyn Beck. “Students stopped simply responding to a need and began asking how communities might create ongoing, sustainable access to healthy food. They are not only helping, but they are also thinking critically, designing solutions, and taking ownership of their work.”
Social Entrepreneurship in Action
Through the Leadership Symposium, students are transforming the classroom into a mission-driven headquarters, launching a sustainable solution that provides a lasting local impact. Using our environmental science program as a foundation, students are applying Next Generation Science Standards to manage every stage of greenhouse production — mastering the biological complexities required to turn a seed into a tangible resource. They are investigating processes, such as cold stratification for germination, to optimize agricultural yields and provide an answer to the question they asked in November.
To support the project’s mission, the students organized themselves into functional teams modeled after our school’s administrative structure: Advancement, Education, Finance, Marketing, Operations, and Product Maintenance. They hold formal meetings with school leadership team mentors across campus, practicing the habits of effective leadership: preparing agendas, maintaining professional decorum, and asking targeted questions to tap into expert wisdom.
This professional framework altered the students’ perspectives. “They began viewing the people they were helping as partners and stakeholders rather than just recipients of charity,” says Chittenden. “They used to feel good about doing a nice thing; now, they feel powerful because they’re doing a smart thing and leading the big ideas.”
Building a Sustainable Future
Preparation for the market is currently in high gear. The classes are filled with the sounds of active leadership as students share common goals and advice.
In one corner, the Marketing and Communications team reminds their peers that “the most important responsibility we all have is to support the mission,” while members of the Advancement team emphasize the need to “set realistic goals.” This collaborative spirit requires a high level of empathy; as the Finance team observed, “If you want to do something, you have to think about how it will impact everyone else.”
Students are also leaning into logistical and creative complexities of the launch. The Operations team notes that success requires “the right tools and great coordination,” while the Product Maintenance team stays agile, reminding everyone to “be flexible and always have a Plan B.” The Education team is focused on the community’s experience, asking, “How do we make sure people are excited to learn?”
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“From doing the food drive at the beginning of the year to creating EMS’s first Farmers Market, our students are really beginning to truly feel their impact,” says Zlotolow. “This experience is empowering them to see that they don’t have to wait to make a difference in our community; they are capable of having an impact right now.”
We invite you to explore the official Farmers Market website. It’s an example of how our students harnessed the power of AI — utilizing “vibe coding” with faculty guidance — to design and launch an event website in minutes. We look forward to seeing you on campus from 9–10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, and we encourage everyone to help us spread the word about this student-led movement for a more sustainable future.
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