Bishop Kearney students, accompanied by school staff, attended BaseCamp Expeditionaries this summer as Patricia Michel Scholars and Fellows. This two-week program selects high-achieving students to invest time in researching the design of solutions to different challenges in society.

The Bensonhurst high school was the only all-girls school to participate in the unique program. Teams from around New York City including Regis and Fordham Prep also attended. The students applied innovative tools that incorporated design thinking, protoyping, teamwork and other 21st-century workplace skills.

The following students participated as social entrepreneurs: rising seniors Anne Baghdadi, Grace Aulisa and Rochelle Chin; rising sophomores Stefanie DeMarch and Elani Reyes.

According to the BaseCamp Director Christian Talbot, social entrepreneurship is defined as ‘creative and collaborative problem solving for the common good.

“Along with Fordham Prep and Regis High School, we journeyed into the unknown as we raised questions and prototyped solutions to help others on the margins of society,” said rising senior Baghdadi.

“We learned to use our individual strengths to not only bring out the best in our own work, but in each other. There is no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ “We would not have made great strides in our advancements if we had been working alone.”