Chicago’s Ariel Community Academy is taking actuary education to new levels in the progressive, Midwestern city. Understanding that ownership in today’s economy will set youth apart as they grow to be working professionals, the school introduces stock as early as kindergarten and begins to trade stock with students by the fourth grade.

Ariel Community Academy has been positively impacting the scope of educational value on the city's South Side for more than two decades. A project funded and formulated by former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and John Rogers, chairman and founder of Ariel Investments, who the school is named after. The school boasts on its graduates who have gone on to become investment bankers, lawyers and doctors. Rogers believes that such success stems from a fundamental lesson he learned from his father that's implemented in the school:

“I tell people all the time that the best way to learn about investing is the way my father taught me. He gave me real money to invest in real stocks. That’s the heart of what makes our program work. It’s not a game.” Yes, real students, learning real skills and trades, to prepare them for success in an ever-changing world. Here's how it works:

The K-8th grade school is sure to meet students where they are. That is to say, the curriculum matches the grade level, so that comprehension is nearly inevitable.

“It is very simple, basic concepts about what money is and the value of money related to different subjects," says principal Lennette A. Coleman.

There are three specific instructors who focus on financial literacy within the school. Financial education starts in kindergarten and the first grade, where they learn the fundamentals of economics as well as personal finance. The curriculum continues in this fashion through matriculation of grades, along with core education in math, science, fine arts, music, and technology courses alike.

We can only imagine the sort of positive impact these young scholars will come to have on the world as they get older. Thanks to the educational preparation of their institution, the educators dedicated to nurturing their minds and the community that loves them, they're bound to make it far.

Board-of-Education

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