A student at Pine Crest School since first grade, Ella Taub ’22 follows in the footsteps of her father and fellow Pine Crest alumnus David Taub ’91.
“My dad and my aunt went here,” said Ella. “My grandparents really love Pine Crest, everyone in my family does! It is fun to celebrate the same school spirit with them.”
As an Upper School student, Ella is part of the first cohort of students to complete the three-year social entrepreneurship program. A newer part of the Upper School curriculum, the social entrepreneurship program was developed after students working in the Zimmerman Family iLabs and Mintz Family iLabs, our Fort Lauderdale campus and Boca Raton campus makerspaces, were looking for ways to take their ideas to the next level.
The coursework encourages students to think creatively, develop innovative solutions to real-world problems, and take direct action to create a new product or design using the principles of social entrepreneurship and innovation.
“I have been attracted to social entrepreneurship since I was in sixth grade,” said Ella. “I wanted to come up with ideas to help others and I now know I want to pursue a career that helps people.”
Ella says her classes in the social entrepreneurship program allowed her to refine and strengthen her public speaking skills, and get to know her classmates better, as they have collaborated for a variety of projects over the past three years.
“We have the traditional elements of our other classes like tests and textbooks,” she said, “but we did a lot of presenting which helped my public speaking. We would be assigned part of a unit in our textbook and have to present it to the class. We also participated in competitions throughout the years, and some of my classmates have created their own startups as a result. One aspect of the course I really liked is how we are able to guide our class discussions and projects based on our interests.”
The Class of 2022 social entrepreneurship students
“I had the opportunity to be on teams with people who have different skillsets and passions, and they opened my eyes to problems in the world that I didn’t know about. I liked learning from my peers and their solutions to problems.”
Collaboration is Ella’s biggest takeaway from the course. “Learning to work with people you may not necessarily want to work with, learning to be accepting of others, knowing your weaknesses, and letting others support you have all been important lessons for me. This class has helped me explore different areas of interest as well as learn about other people’s interests,” she said.
Ella Taub ’22 presenting at the Diamond Challenge Entrepreneurship Challenge.
One of the pinnacle elements of the course is an internship. While initially hesitant, Ella leaned into an opportunity to work with the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
“I am really interested in education,” said Ella. “I worked with a team to create a curriculum for students in rural areas who do not have robust science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula. My service learning curriculum focused on educating students about genetic diseases and inspiring them to pursue science and medicine. I actually took knowledge from my classes and the case studies we reviewed here at Pine Crest and made medical case study models for the schools. I got a lot of experience with different types of work that I wouldn’t have otherwise received without the social entrepreneurship program.”
Outside of the classroom, Ella has been part of the Technology Students Association (TSA). The TSA is a national student organization where members are engaged in extracurricular activities and competitions to develop STEM skills. Ella has been competing in the TSA State and National conferences since she was in Middle School.
Ella Taub ’22 won second place at the TSA State Championship Conference in the
Photographic Technology category.
As a member of TSA, Ella has been a part of several different competitive groups. “TSA has also helped me gain experience in education,” she said. “I was a member of the Children’s Stories Team; we created children’s stories and were able to read them to pre-kindergarten students. I was also part of the Future Technology Teacher program where I learned to use some of the same educational technology that teachers use.”
“In addition to that, on campus, we have a mentorship program with the Middle School TSA students,” she continued. “I help them after school with their projects.”
Class of 2022 at the TSA State Championship Conference
While Ella’s work with the social entrepreneurship program, the Children’s Tumor Foundation, and the TSA may seem like more than enough to keep her busy outside of her normal coursework, she still finds time to give back to the Pine Crest community in even more ways.
This year, she served as the President of the Steering Committee in the Upper School Student Council. Ella was also a member of the Pre-kindergarten Helpers Club.
Ella Taub ’22 spends time on the playground with pre-kindergarten students.
“One of my favorite things at Pine Crest is Pre-kindergarten Helpers—a club where Upper School students go to the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms at Pine Crest to help teachers during class, and play with students at recess or help them during their learning centers.”
“I love going into the classrooms and helping the teachers or playing with the students. It has been a valuable experience that will help me as I continue in the field of education.”
Ella Taub ’22 in Mrs. Patty Schimpf's pre-kindergarten class for the wedding of Q and U.
As graduation approaches, Ella is excited to spend her last few weeks as a Pine Crest student with her close friends, and visit her Lower and Middle Schools teachers. “I want to thank them for everything,” she said. “I am really going to miss Pine Crest and am so appreciative for the opportunities I have been given. I like that Pine Crest is a community for so many people. The community at large cares for each other and is kind to each other.”
Ella will be a freshman at Tulane University this fall and will declare her major in psychology and early childhood education. She is hoping to also minor in social entrepreneurship and innovation.
“I am social and like to meet new people,” she said. “I have so many different interests and I am looking forward to engaging them all.”
