Interview with a social entrepreneur: Melissa Doherty (By Jenny Carroll for EDUC 6103-96)

 Interview with a Social Entrepreneur: Melissa Doherty

General Information

Job Title: Options and Opportunities (O2) Coordinator

School: Sackville High School

Years Teaching: 24

Years in current position: 10

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I decided to start my interview with Melissa by asking her
if the program she facilitates with her students meets the
criteria for"new entrepreneurship" given by Rae (2010)
and summarizedby O'Brien (2015). Her responses,
 shown in this checklist, confirmed that I should consider
her a social entrepreneur.

    Melissa Doherty is a high school teacher who has been the coordinator for the O2 program at Sackville High for many years. I am familiar with the O2 program at many local high schools but Melissa's implementation of it goes well above and beyond the program description outlined by Nova Scotia Education and Early Childhood Development. EECD states that students in the O2 program will provide students with "a broad range of community-based learning experiences to help support them in making intentional and meaningful decisions about post-secondary education and career pathways" (EECD, 2023). I would argue that Melissa provides students with so much more than that: an opportunity for them to explore their personal values, collaborate with peers on projects that have a real impact, create partnerships with other schools and businesses and reflect on their own personal growth. In other words, she helps her students turn "ideas into action" (World Economic Forum, 2009, p. 9), as quoted by Couros (2015). 

Some of the learning opportunities her students have had are shown and described below. Although a few of these are yearly events, most of them are unique to each cohort of students as they are the result of a particular student’s or group’s passion or idea. For this reason, I consider Melissa to be solving the complex problem of providing an individualized and responsive educational experience to every student. It’s a complex problem because not only do the students change every year, but the environment in which they are learning changes as well. The world has changed in the past ten years since she took on this professional role and Melissa has rolled with every punch and embraced every change, particularly with the Covid-19 pandemic. In Melissa’s own words, “the idea of doing the same thing year after year doesn’t work”. Westley, Zimmerman and Quinn Patton suggest that things are complex when they are “unpredictable, emergent, evolving and adaptable” (2007, p. 7) and this description fits Melissa’s version of the O2 program perfectly. They also say that relationships are a key part of complex problems and, when asked about how her work fosters health and well-being, she replied that it’s “the relationship building, the sense of community. It’s amazing.” 

Melissa fosters the development of entrepreneurial mindset with her students. Pictures show, clockwise from top left:

1 - building planters and beautifying the school property

2 - collecting 1000 kg of food for FEED NS during a Halloween food drive

3 - reaching out to recruit African NS students to the program

4 - planning and carrying out a student-led Remembrance day ceremony

5 - planning & running a Girls' Conference in celebration of IWD; welcoming Ria May to perform at the school

6 - creating posters to remind students about a growth mindset

7 - throwing and painting bowls for the Hungry Bowls fundraiser, supporting local charities

8 - partnering with local business associations

9 - using students' lived experiences and ideas to spread awareness of global and social justice issues

10 - building teamwork skills with and among students

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 
hosted a Town Hall meeting for the
community at Sackville High, Melissa
approached his aide about having her 
students organize the coat check
for the event and arranged
to have them meet Mr. Trudeau
afterward.

*All photos taken by Melissa Doherty and used with permission. All students in photos have signed media releases and have given permission for use.

Her ability to create an environment that responds to the needs of every student while achieving students’ individual and group goals within the constraints of the public school system here in Nova Scotia makes Melissa an intrapreneurial teacher in my mind. Not only is she working within the policies of the Halifax Regional Centre for Education and the NS Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, but Melissa is also working within the limitations of a recent pandemic. Facilitating field trips, training opportunities, and student-led event planning within such constraints shows off Melissa’s own entrepreneurial ability to “solve problems creatively” (Zhao, 2012, p. 9). 

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    Melissa is inspiring to me as an educator. One thing I really admire about her work is that she makes every single student feel valued and provides them all with the opportunity to contribute in a way that is meaningful for them. When I asked her about how learning challenges or ability affects students’ capacity to learn, she replied “It doesn’t. Everybody plays a role in our projects. Everybody belongs, everybody has a sense of purpose. They all have skills and strengths that will come out through the year. The “leaders” are quick to pop out and students recognize the strengths of others: the leaders, the nitpickers, the introverts. They’re all valuable and we work to see that value in each other.” Melissa’s view is contrary to what Westley, Zimmerman, and Quinn

Patton (2007) describe as being the status quo in most schools today, where students who cannot learn efficiently in a system set up for educating students in large numbers are labeled as having a disorder. Melissa’s success in helping all students fill their toolkit with the “new survival skills” (Zhao, p. 8) makes Melissa the most innovative educator I know. 

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References: 

Couros, G. (2015). The Innovator's mindset. In The Innovator's mindset: Empower Learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity (pp. 31–42). Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. 

Education and Early Childhood Development. (2023). Options and Opportunities. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.ednet.ns.ca/cbl/options-and-opportunities 

Nova scotia high schoolers vow to 'social silence' in solidarity with Iranian protestors: Watch News Videos Online. Global News. (2022, November 16). Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://globalnews.ca/video/9284311/nova-scotia-high-schoolers-vow-to-social-silence-in-solidarity-with-iranian-protestors/#autoplay 

O'Brien, C. (2016). Chapter 5: Entrepreneurial Mindset. In Education for sustainable happiness and well-being (pp. 67-84). essay, Routledge. 

Westley, F., Zimmerman, B., and Quinn Patton, M. (2007). The first light of evening (chapter 1), In Getting to maybe: How the world is changed (pp. 3–26). Vintage Canada. 

Zhao, Y. (2012) To create is human (Introduction). In World class learners: Educating creative and entrepreneurial students (pp. 1-22). Sage.