Exclusive to NESSIC Member Schools

NESSIC Student Leadership Symposium

Social Innovation

What Have You Set in Motion?

Hiba Academy Shanghai
Saturday, March 6, 2027

This symposium is free to participate thanks to the generous support of the Hiba Shanghai Education Development Foundation.

Express your interest

About the Symposium

The NESSC Student Leadership Symposium on Social Innovation brings together student teams who are using service, creativity, and community insight to make a difference in their schools and local communities.

This one-day, in-person Symposium is designed for school teams of up to 10 students and 1 to 2 faculty advisers. Students will not only attend sessions. They will help shape the learning before the event, share their own work during the Symposium, and present what they learned afterwards.

At a time when schools are helping students move beyond participation toward purposeful action, this Symposium asks a simple question:

What have you set in motion?

From Service to Social Innovation

Students will explore how meaningful service begins with listening, develops through action, and improves through reflection and revision.

The Symposium will culminate with the Innovative Service Video Contest, where students create 60-second videos that tell the story of a service project they have launched or improved.

Strong videos will show how students have:

  • Identified a real need by speaking with those affected

  • Designed a project that responds to that need

  • Improved the project based on what worked and what did not

  • Shown how the benefits can continue beyond the first action

The Symposium will also help students understand what does not usually count as social innovation: solutions imposed from outside a community, projects that repeat existing ideas without improvement, service that offers only a short-term fix, or videos that do not show how students learned and adapted.

Intended Outcomes

By the end of the Symposium, participating teams will:

Identify genuine community needs by listening to the people most affected

Design or refine a service project that responds meaningfully to an identified need

Use reflection and evidence to improve a project and strengthen its long-term impact

Distinguish social innovation from short-term service or solutions imposed on a community

Communicate the story, learning and future direction of a student-led service project

Symposium Moderator

Rushton Hurley

Rushton Hurley has worked and studied on three continents as a Japanese language teacher, school principal, teacher trainer, and inspirational speaker. He founded and directs the educational nonprofit Next Vista for Learning, which houses a free library of creative educational videos at NextVista.org. Rushton holds masters degrees in Education and East Asian Studies from Stanford University.

The author of three books, Rushton's work centers on inspiration and creativity, technology and leadership, avenues for engaging learning, the power of digital media and cutting-edge technology for collaboration, and personal and professional perspectives in a technology-infused, ever-changing world. He also works with WarmDemanders.com to provide focused, self-paced mini-courses for professional development, including a course for educators on ChatGPT for which several thousand people around the world have registered.

In the spring of 2023, Rushton joined the team at Junípero Serra High School as the Director of Design-Led Innovation. In that role, he co-teaches the Creative Solutions for the Global Good class and coordinates international projects between Serra and other fascinating schools around the world.

Rushton loves to travel, cleans up after his cats, and considers himself to have married up.

The Symposium Journey

Each Symposium is more than a single day. Participating teams will move through three connected stages.

Before the Symposium

Participating teams will join two online sessions.

These sessions will introduce the Symposium theme, share examples of student leadership, and invite students to discuss opportunities and challenges in their own schools. Their conversations and insights will help shape the conference content.

During the Symposium

Students and faculty advisers will take part in three joint sessions and four separate sessions.

The morning will feature keynote and sponsor-led learning, depending on the Symposium theme. The afternoon will feature student presenters, school team discussions, sharing and practical planning.

Faculty sessions will explore how schools can create the structures, opportunities and support that student leaders need.

Lunch and refreshment breaks will be provided.

After the Symposium

Each team will create a short video sharing what they learned and how they plan to apply it in their school.

Teams will then join an online showcase session to share their learning with the wider NESSIC community.

What Students Will Experience

Across the series, students will:

  • Explore leadership in a context relevant to their interests

  • Connect with student leaders from other NESSIC schools

  • Share opportunities and challenges from their own schools

  • Learn from speakers, sponsors, peers and faculty advisers

  • Develop practical ideas for action

  • Reflect on what they have learned

  • Share their learning through a post-conference video and online showcase

Learning for Faculty Advisers

Students and faculty advisers will learn together and separately throughout the programme.

Dedicated faculty sessions will help advisers explore how schools can:

  • Create meaningful student leadership opportunities

  • Support student-led action and decision-making

  • Strengthen reflection, coaching and peer support

  • Build sustainable structures for student leadership

  • Help students apply their learning after the Symposium

Participation and Registration

Each school may bring up to:

10 students + 1-2 faculty advisers

At this stage, only the school team coordinator’s information is required. Student names and individual details do not need to be submitted during the initial registration.

By the end of October 2026, coordinators must complete a separate participant form with the details of their participating students. This form will also ask about dietary requirements and which hotel the team is staying at.

Learn with Peers at
Hiba Academy Shanghai

235, Linyao Road, Pudong, Shanghai上海市浦东新区林耀路235号

  • Hiba Academy Shanghai is a bilingual school founded in 2018 as part of Wellington College Education (China). It offers a 16-year education covering Early Years, Primary School, Junior High, and High School, serving about 1,500 pupils. The school represents a blend of Eastern and Western educational practices within the framework of the Chinese National Curriculum, enriched by internationally recognised teaching methods. Its curriculum is taught in both Chinese and English with a 1:1 ratio of Chinese to international teachers, creating an immersive bilingual learning environment. Guided by the motto "Be You. Be More." and the Hiba Values of Kindness, Responsibility, Respect, Courage, and Integrity, the school aims to cultivate globally minded citizens who are Learners, Connectors, and Changemakers.

    上海惠立学校创办于2018年，隶属于惠灵顿（中国）教育集团，是一所涵盖幼儿园、小学、初中及高中的K12双语学校，目前有约1500名在校学生。学校以中国国家课程为基础，融合中西教育理念与实践精华，采用中外教1：1配比的沉浸式双语教学模式，致力于为学生提供扎实的学术根基与全面的全人教育。学校以“惠贤育能，立德树人”为愿景，秉承“勇气、正直、善良、尊重、责任”的惠立价值观，培养学生成为立足中国文化底蕴、具备全球视野的国际化双语人才。

Stella Zhou

Master

Campus_2.JPG
Community event_ 1.JPG
School life_3.JPG
School life_6.jpg
Campus_3.JPG
School Life_Secondary Sustainability Day.jpg

Recommended Hotels

Participants can book directly through the hotel's official website or other third-party booking platforms.

Shangri-La Qiantan Shanghai
上海前滩香格里拉酒店

No.551 Haiyang West Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
上海市浦东新区海阳西路551号

  • Contact: Emma Zhang
    Email: emma.zhang@shangri-la.com
    Tel: 134 8211 8060

    General
    Email: Resteam.cnsha004@shangri-la.com
    Tel: 021-5030 8888

  • Deluxe Room (King or Twin) 豪华客房（大床或双床）
    RMB 1200
    with single breakfast (add CNY174.9 for double occupancy)
    含单早 （另加174.9元含双早）

    Deluxe River View Room (King or Twin)
    豪华江景客房（大床或双床）
    RMB 1374.9
    with single breakfast (add CNY174.9 for double occupancy
    含单早 （另加174.9元含双早）

    Executive Room (King or Twin)
    超豪华客房（大床或双床）
    RMB 1491.5
    with single breakfast (add CNY174.9 for double occupancy
    含单早 （另加174.9元含双早）

Artyzen New Bund 31 Shanghai
上海前滩31雅辰酒店

666 West Haiyang Road, Pudong, Shanghai
上海市浦东新区海阳西路 666 弄 20 号

Mercure Shanghai Qiantan Hotel
上海前滩美居酒店

No.551 Haiyang West Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
上海市浦东新区海阳西路551号

  • Yu Zhou
    zhouyu035@hworld.com

    General
    mj-shsbqtd@hworld.com
    021 6087 2528（酒店总机）

  • Standard Room, One King-size Bed · 标准房（大床）｜约23㎡ 参考价约 ¥700 起/晚 （参考起价，以酒店官网当日房价为准） 中西式自助早餐；含早份数以预订确认为准

    Deluxe Room, 1 Kingsize Bed · 豪华房（大床）｜约25㎡ 参考价约 ¥750 起/晚 （参考起价，以酒店官网当日房价为准） 中西式自助早餐；含早份数以预订确认为准

    Deluxe Room, 2 Single Beds · 豪华房（双床）｜约28㎡ 参考价约 ¥750 起/晚 （参考起价，以酒店官网当日房价为准） 中西式自助早餐；含早份数以预订确认为准

    Privilege Room, 1 Kingsize Bed · 嘉宾房（大床）｜约30㎡ 参考价约 ¥800 起/晚 （参考起价，以酒店官网当日房价为准） 中西式自助早餐；含早份数以预订确认为准

    Privilege Room, 2 Single Beds · 嘉宾房（双床）｜约30㎡ 参考价约 ¥850 起/晚 （参考起价，以酒店官网当日房价为准） 中西式自助早餐；含早份数以预订确认为准

Artyzen Habitat Qiantan Shanghai
上海前滩雅辰悦居酒店

596 West Yangsi Road, Pudong, Shanghai, P.R. China, 200126
中国上海市浦东新区杨思西路596号

Join Your Peers in Shanghai

Only NESSIC Member Schools may participate

This symposium is free to participate in due to Hiba Foundations Generous Support.

Express your interest