The Junior Economic Club High Returns Program
This is a program our members are currently working to build!
What is High Returns?
High Returns is the Junior Economic Club's primary community outreach initiative, centered around fostering financial literacy education at an early age. During this program, students will have the opportunity to explore their skills, interests, values, and the world of work to make informed education, career, and life decisions. This program was developed with a primary emphasis on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness, while also providing a strong secondary emphasis on mathematics, reading, and writing skills. Upon completion of our program, students will have learned the fundamental business and economic concepts, explored career interests and opportunities, and developed work-readiness skills.
How does it work?
The leaders of this program are Junior Economic Club members who are passionate about being mentors for younger Boston students. These members have gone through financial literacy training and are more than qualified to be educating Boston middle schoolers about these important topics.
With High Returns, four to five JEC members lead a series of 45-minute Zoom workshops on finance for 7th and 8th graders at various local, underserved elementary schools. The workshops are exciting, interactive, and engaging, while simultaneously teaching students about important topics and life skills such as the concept of credit and identifying the connection between goal setting, personal finance, education, and career choices. You can view a brief overview of the lessons here.
Why does it matter?
Studies have shown that in-school teaching of financial literacy from a young age has a significant impact on a student’s financial success and competency as an adult. However, financial literacy is rarely taught in elementary schools or and some high schools throughout the nation. It is also proven that low-income and minority students are more likely to be less financially literate in their adulthood. These are the problems that the Junior Economic Club is trying to solve with the High Returns initiative.
If you are a Boston area elementary school teacher or faculty member interested in having the High Returns program at your school, please Contact Us below expressing your interest.