Shop for sustainable products on December 1 at UP Town Center!
Young people play a crucial role in driving sustainable development. When these entrepreneurs of the future harness their creativity together to solve some of the primary social and environmental challenges today, it is but proper that we support them in their endeavors. The students at Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) will once again launch the Kids Bazaar 2024 on December 1, (from 10 am to 6pm) at the UP Town Center, Ayala Malls. This one-day-only pop-up bazaar is open to the public.
Now in its 24th year, the MI Kids Can! Bazaar will feature 26 booths showcasing the creativity and advocacy of young entrepreneurs, with every product intentionally crafted or sourced locally. Each class (from Preschool to Grade 12) will manage a dedicated booth that will advocate for a specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
Profit with purpose
“Our 12th-grade students are spotlighting SDG 5 or Gender Equality and SDG 8 or Decent Work and Economic Growth with their Bayong-All-You-Can experience. Shoppers can purchase a bayong handcrafted by women weavers and fill it with as much fresh, locally sourced produce as it can hold. It’s a fun, eco-friendly way to support local farmers and artisans while promoting sustainability,” MIIS Marketing & Business Development Officer Anica Catarina Abaquin, said, further explaining that the vegetables are for free. Other products available at the bazaar include self-care kits, handwoven clothing made by indigenous women, hand painted bags, accessories, and more, all sourced and created locally. “Whether you’re looking for unique gifts or sustainable goods, the MI Kids Can! Bazaar has something for everyone,” she added.
Abaquin (fondly called Teacher Joy), MIIS Founding Directress
First launched in 2000, the MI Kids Can! For Kids, By Kids Bazaar was the first and only youth entrepreneurship bazaar in the Philippines that was run by elementary school students to make a difference through entrepreneurship. True to its sustainable objectives, the annual bazaar has helped deprived and marginalized children and communities, supported greening initiatives, preserved indigenous culture, and has since promoted reducing, reusing, and recycling efforts. Proceeds from the first bazaar were allocated to support the paraplegic child beneficiaries of Bahay Mapagmahal. Over the years, different beneficiaries that are dear to the hearts of the students—including creating a forest as a watershed in partnership with students in Tranca, Laguna, to helping kids with cancer, river clean-ups, feeding programs, and helping address various social, economic, and environmental problems—have benefitted from whatever the kids earned from the enterprise.
This year’s bazaar aims to champion “Leadership for a Sustainable Future”, and as MIIS is set to move to its new, state-of-the-art School of the Future campus at Parklinks Estates, this anchor school will likewise embody this aspiration. “The MI Kids Can! Bazaar serves as a platform to raise the next generation of leaders who will want to care to use their smarts to make a difference and make the world a better place for all,” Dr. Mary Joy Canon Abaquin (also fondly called Teacher Joy), MIIS’ Founding Directress said.
The bazaar offers hands-on entrepreneurship experience, bringing their classroom lessons to practice. Students learn how to create products which eventually evolved to learning how to create businesses in the High School. “The bazaar serves as a platform to raise the next generation of leaders who will want to care to use their smarts to make a difference and make the world a better place for all,” says Dr. Abaquin who wrote the best-selling book for Go Negosyo entitled, “8 Simple Secrets to Raising Entrepreneurs” MIIS was awarded the Go Negosyo Youth Enabler Award for Basic Education.”
The MIIS legacy
The school’s philosophy is hinged on the idea that all children have different kinds of smarts. MIIS acknowledges and nurtures the diverse types of smarts in every student through meaningful learning experiences and a culture of respect. By doing so, it empowers them to excel in different ways by developing their unique intelligence, training them to be leaders, innovators, and trailblazers, and providing them with a pathway to success. Unlike traditional educational institutions in the Philippines, MIIS offers progressive education in a student-centered classroom based on a balanced curriculum (that meets local and international standards) that develops all intelligence areas through multiple entry points, socio-emotional learning, character formation, and real-world experience. All these strategies mold MIIS students to be the next generation of leaders and 21st century and global citizens who will use their intelligence to make a difference.
At MIIS students (in preschool ages 5 to Senior High School students ages 18) are given the opportunity to create products or business plans through the application of lessons in math and entrepreneurship. Apart from business skills, they are also able to hone 21st-century skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Students can then apply their learnings at the MI Kids Can! Bazaar by being the cashier, marketer, booth designer, and package products, boosting their self-confidence as they interact with the real marketplace and the public. “Intelligence is defined by Dr. Howard Gardner as the ability to create products that are valued in a cultural setting. Thus, in line with the MIIS framework, we believe that intelligence has to be applied. Entrepreneurship is very much in line with creating products that are valued, and the MI Kids Can! Bazaar advocacy is very much aligned with the MIIS motto: Use Your Intelligences to Make A Difference,” Dr. Abaquin pointed out.
Future Thought Leaders and game changers
Lauren Vittoria Guevarra, MIIS Upper School Student Council President has participated in the bazaar since kindergarten. “For the past 13 years, this event has reminded me that no man is an island. Every step forward is all thanks to the team behind it. We wouldn’t be where we were now without each other, nor would our products and business. Teamwork, collaboration, and communication are skills vital to the success of everything.”
Leane Ysabelle Ventura, Global Youth President of the United Nations Youth Association of the Philippines and President and Founder of the MIIS Leaders for Sustainable Development Club says that the bazaar prepares students for their future endeavors. “As someone whose skill foundation is built from hands-on exposure, I know first-hand how effective hands-on experiences are. It teaches preparation, organization, and negotiation skills. Especially if they want to pursue a career in the business world, the Bazaar will allow the students to experience what it’s like to work in different departments such as marketing and finance, within a timeframe, and most importantly, teach them teamwork!”
The school’s next big event is the MI Green Family Festival, happening in early 2025. This much-anticipated annual school-wide event provides families with a chance to bond, create lasting memories, and support the school’s sustainability initiatives.
Seeing young entrepreneurs build small enterprises that prioritize profit with purpose, it proves that indeed, they will play a crucial role in advocating for a more fair and sustainable future. It is our hope to give these young green and socially responsible entrepreneurs all the support they need so that in collaboration with our own personal efforts towards social and environmental responsibility, we can give them the opportunity to make a social impact today, and help them to achieve a better, inclusive, equitable and sustainable future that they deserve.
For the latest MIIS events and announcements, follow its social media accounts: @miischool on Instagram and @MIInternationalSchool on Facebook; or visit the website at mischool.edu.ph.
ADVT.
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