Can you imagine your teen willingly logging in to class at 7 in the morning? Me neither. But that’s just what happened with the teens who enrolled in Wall Street 101 this summer.
Annaline Dinkelmann, founder of Teach Me Wall Street, isn’t surprised. “Kids are interested in money. They understand the value of money and they want to learn more. In schools, this is not a compulsory subject.”
Originally an in-person, on site program that took middle school and high school students on tours of Wall Street, Dinkelmann began offering online versions of her course this summer. Not only did the students attend every class and do the homework, but they loved what they learned.
As one student reflected, “I learned something useful that they don’t teach in schools.” And another student explained, “My mom enrolled me without telling me and I’m so glad that she did.”
Meanwhile, a parent of a student shared that “Every night my kid sits me down and explains what he learned in class. Then he sits my husband down and goes over it again.”
Dinkelmann has expanded her offerings for the fall.
She’ll offer the following classes that meet once a week for 5 weeks:
- Wall Street 101 examines the stock market and how it works
- Investing 101explains the different options like stock and bonds and includes simulated trading
- Budgeting 101 is geared toward middle school students and focuses on setting financial goals and making good choices about spending, saving, and giving
- Budgeting 102 is geared toward high school students and focuses on responsible use of credit cards, the basics of banking, and how to budget
Dinkelmann adds that in all of her classes, she will cover managing money in a cashless society. “When I was young, I used envelopes for my cash, but now everything is plastic and online so you have to figure out how to keep track of it.”
“The classes are fun!” Dinkelmann promises. “I don’t lecture for an hour. Students get out of the ‘listening mode’ and the time goes quickly. We play interactive games and have discussion groups.”
Go to Teach Me Wall Street to sign up. Use the code YTM10 for a 10% discount.
