Most teens don’t trade stock, but an all-girls class at Thomas Jefferson High School has spent the semester tracking them.
When the students aren’t monitoring the stock market, they’re budgeting their monthly income and researching insurance policies.
The Preston Hollow high school partnered with Fidelity Investments for Rock the Street, Wall Street, a yearlong program that promotes financial literacy among teen girls. Students receive one-on-one mentoring from women in a myriad of roles throughout the finance company, says Leah Sandock, volunteer and vice president of Fidelity Investments.
Women only comprise 24 percent of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math industries. Girls often lose interest in these subjects as young as 9 years old, Sandock says, so the classes are designed to spark their enthusiasm.
The class’ interactive nature sparked senior Kimberly Padron’s interest in business. After she graduates, she wants to double major in marketing and film.
She is more confident managing money, too.
“I feel more informed,” she says. “I feel like my parents and family members didn’t know a lot about this.”
