Currently, we are running a project with students choosing and following the stock market. At the heart of Silicon Valley, students are often aware of the increasing number of technology stocks but not really sure how it all works. At the beginning of the school year, we discovered an alarming degree of ignorance among our high school aged students about real world issues - including lack of information about the basic costs of essentials like rent, salary scales, employment opportunities, correlation between education and training programs and salary expectations, and other critical information. Many of our students come from economically deprived home situations and entered our high school with low personal ambitions and expectations. Often, our students are first generation Americans and the first in their extended families to enter a secondary school.
Many students live very confined lives, limited to their immediate neighborhoods.
They lack knowledge about public transportation, employment opportunities outside their narrow frame of reference, and are unable to read road maps, balance checkbooks, estimate future costs of living realistically or plan for the future. We face an enormous challenge and we feel strongly that this is an important component of preparing our students for life in the 21st century. The purpose of the program is to make our students aware of issues which will impact their future lives. It is hoped this awareness will affect their decisions re. continuing their education, developing a savings plan, and making realistic, informed decisions re. In the short time we have been developing this program we have seen some gratifying results.