Here is an update from our grant recipient, Eric Chen, and his program, Elevate Investing. The Investing Basics workshop is an in-person, six-week-long program held at local elementary and middle schools that covers the basic topics of investing. These topics include stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.
Last year, in March and April, Elevate Investing partnered with Navy Elementary School to host an investing education program lasting six weeks. We had a total of 20 students participating, ranging from 3rd-6th grade. Throughout this program, we organized weekly workshops with the students, where we covered various topics involving the basics of investing knowledge. In particular, the topics we covered consisted of an introduction to investing, stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.
Our workshops were divided into three segments. First, we introduced the students to the topic of the day, whether it be stocks or bonds, through an engaging presentation. Many students were curious and asked different questions about the topic, which we encouraged with an abundance of Jolly Ranchers. Each thought-provoking question asked resulted in one Jolly Rancher being rewarded. This motivated the students to participate more and more in both our presentations and the rest of the workshop activities.
Second, we moved into the activities portion of our workshop, where we enabled the students to apply what they learned in games and worksheets. We greatly utilized stock simulators and online quiz games to practice the students’ knowledge of the topics covered and help them retain the information they learned.
Lastly, we gave the students time to explore the topics on their own. For instance, at the end of our workshop on cryptocurrencies, we allowed the students to explore the different NFTs in the market. Altogether, by following this structure of introduction, application, and exploration, we were able to effectively inspire students about investing and motivate them to pursue a future of financial well-being and success.
At the end of our program, we also had the students fill out a survey regarding their experience with our curriculum. The responses told us that stocks were the easiest to understand with cryptocurrencies being the most difficult. However, around 90% of the students found the overall content covered in the workshop easy to understand. Finally, all the students were interested in attending another one of these workshops. We did also receive valuable feedback such as incorporating more group-related activities into our curriculum, which we would be happy to implement.
As of now, we have plans for future partnerships with schools and more workshops/programs. In the future, I would like to see our program expand nationwide with new partnerships forming in different regions. By implementing our curriculums in other communities, we can broaden our impact and make a greater difference in empowering youth with financial literacy.
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