Budgets, Fraud, and Stock Portfolios! Speyer’s Financial Literacy Curriculum Wraps Up for the Year!

Our Middle School welcomed the volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers for their final morning of Financial Literacy curriculum for the year! The Boulevard and classrooms were electric, as they tackled a variety of topics!

Speyer fifth graders investigated current types of consumer financial fraud (including online scams, cookie click bait, and sweepstakes fraud) and identified actions a victim of fraud or identity theft should take to restore personal assets and security. There was a deep dive from many students who wanted to share what scams or frauds their families had been snared by and how to protect social security numbers. Split into groups to design a way to help inform the public about scams, one fifth grade team created their PSA as a commercial and sang the lyrics to their song "Please Stop Believing" using Journey's iconic melody "Don't Stop Believing". 

Speyer sixth graders were engrossed with creating a spending plan. They explored all of the ways to create and work with a budget, analyzing and differentiating between needs and wants. The topic provided much discussion (as one can imagine)! One student noted fixed and variable expenses are key and wondered why there was not a budget category for medical care, while another felt keeping their annual income below a threshold would get them "free" healthcare. Many felt that candy and streaming services were fixed expenses (not discretionary) yet others argued that "none of these are necessities, I could live in a cave." Quite a few of the PwC instructors were delighted to hear how many Dragons would spend a new-found $100 by donating or saving it versus spending the money. When thinking about the impact of revenue and their budgets, one enterprising student expanded their income through social media streaming and influencing while another decided to cut their gas bill by selling the gas stove and converting to electric.

Meanwhile, our eighth graders focused on planning for the future. They discussed making smart investment choices, how to create a balanced portfolio, and how to analyze which stocks can appreciate as well as throw off dividends. The PwC team was impressed with their knowledge of stocks, ETFs, diversification, and long-term strategies for wealth creation. While a number of the students felt they could get some backing on their dream investments by appearing on the TV show Shark Tank, one of the main topics centered on how AI may disrupt white collar careers. Students and their mentors also had an intense conversation about the idea that gambling is investing, with the students wanting to check out the Kalshi predictive markets platform.

And what about our seventh graders? Well, they were preparing for their grade's field trip to Goldman Sachs that is coming up in May! They will share details of how they have managed the Financial Literacy Fund Portfolio and also hear the always-riveting results of the individual stock contest. Stay tuned for a recap on that trip coming soon!

Thanks as always to all of the people who help to make the Financial Literacy program such a success! WAHOO!