What Mr. Rogers said was,"We think that by exposing our African-American boys and girls to the stock market at an early age, we can really enhance their math skills." The Ariel School population is 99% African-American.
I imagine that if there were other magnanimous business leaders from other ethnic backgrounds willing donate substantial sums to schools in their communities, the Ariel curriculum would work for them as well.

I remember doing something very similar when I took economics in high school. We did not use real money, and it was a very short term project. The updated way the Ariel Community Academy is approaching this same project is amazing. I was impressed to hear the students' comments on business and earnings. What a truly authentic way to teach not only math skills, but also life skills. Don Thompson said it best when he commented that the students were able to, "create aspirations within themselves . . .". I can't imagine a better lesson to learn.

I did something like this in high school but we did not have real money. It was set up as a competition to see what group could earn the most and I believe it helped me understand the stock market very well. It was also fun and therefore held my attention...isn't that what we are going for?

This would be a great experience for any student. Middle schoolers would learn the value of money and planning for the future.

Wow, wouldn't that be interesting? This project seems like an amazing opportunity for students to see how they can invest their earnings in a very real and personal way. Teachers always wonder whether the experiences and information provided in a classroom is applied later in life. The true success of this program would be to find that these students practiced the investing techniques that they practiced so diligently in school.

I wish I would have had an experience like that. Learning to invest is important. It is good for children to understand that they can make money with out really having a job. Passive income streams ought to be taught more.

We are very interested in hearing more about your efforts to bring financial literacy to children, and help them be aware and secure their futures.

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As a person who has always advocated for stock market competitions and learning in our public schools, I was pleased to see this program working for the Chicago City Schools. I was however, dismayed at the comment by John Rogers stating that this was a program for African Americans. Why must it be limited to racial/ethnic specific groups?

This seems like a wonderful program for all students. I was distressed to hear that the Ariel representative say it was for African-American students. Imagine if a white businessman ran this program and said that it was for white students! This is unacceptable.

According to the video, the class of approximately 15 people receives $100 each. That is some $1500 they made themselves already, and that is half of their total profit which would approximately be $3000

what if ten schools had this?
15,000 dollars of donations to charity

What if thousand schools had this?
$1,500,000 dollars of donation purely created by students.

Is it hard to teach something like this in AP Econ? World would be such a better place.