Dreams For Kids is hosting a Financial Literacy Summer Bootcamp which will help underserved students grasp key financial concepts & spark curiousities on how to thrive in financial services careers & pursue family-sustaining careers.
Our real-world, experiential approach exposes students to a real-time investing simulator which allows students to earn prizes while they learn about investing. We also offer interactions with industry experts that can help with future mentor & internship opportunites.
Participating students will receive a Financial Literacy Certification from Dreams For Kids, along with a funded custodial brokerage account, which means every participating student will leave the Bootcamp a shareholder.
We are hosting a total of 8 cohorts ranging from 10 to 15 students in the Summer of 2022 with limited availability. In order to maintain a low student-to-teacher ratio, we are offering this 2-week workshop in June, July, and August.
Each day will begin at 10am and end at 4pm. Lunch and snacks will be provided. In-person cohorts will meet at 9 West Washington St. while virtual cohorts will join via Zoom.
If you are interested in leveraging Rapunzl and Dreams For Kids Financial Literacy resources to host your own program of students, please contact us directly at rapunzl@dreamsforkids.org.
Day 1:
Welcome To The Stock Market
On the first day, we start with the basics: What Is A Stock? How Do Stocks Trade? What's the purpose of the stock market? Once we establish a foundational knowledge, we scaffold student learning by following the journey of Warren Buffet, one of the greatest value investors of all time as students setup Rapunzl accounts and begin their investing journey.
Day 2:
Saving Vs. Investing
We dissect the difference between investing & savings, how banks make money by taking risk, and why you can do the same by evaluating companies for their long-term growth potential in order to make your money work smarter for you than for a banker.
Day 3:
Understanding Financial Fitness
This class provides important information about becoming financially fit. This involves sticking to a few key habits in order to have access to capital through credit, and allowing students to learn about how you can prepare for retirement using mutual funds, establishing consistent savings patterns, and possibly investing in insurance.
Day 4:
Benefits & Risks of Debt
Governments and companies borrow capital from institutional lenders by issuing bonds or other debt instruments, but how does credit and debt impact your own financial future? Learn the risks & rewards of proper credit management.
Day 5:
Power of Diversification
Diversification can reduce the risk your portfolio faces and help capture returns from the broader market. Risk is unavoidable when you are investing, but it declines over time; and that’s where the real money can be made. Ever heard the phrase Buy-And-Hold? We won't cover the benefits until Week 2, but rest assured, if you understand that principle and diversification, you're well on your way to being a successful long-term investor.
Day 6:
What Makes A Good Stock?
The sure way to success is to buy the market, but obviously there’s more advanced investment strategies. The simplest? Buy & Hold. We dive into complex analysis including ways to value a company, understand how a stock compares to industry peers, and what time horizon should different investors adopt to achieve their goals.
Day 7:
ETFs & Mutual Funds
Learn how ETFs & Mutual Funds provide a way for investors to invest in a basket of stocks or other assets at a much lower cost than purchasing all of the assets independently. We breakdown complex acronyms and new jargon to explain that ETFs and Mutual Funds are actually incredibly useful retirement tools that provide built-in diversification to reduce overall portfolio risk.
Day 8:
ESG & Social Impact Investing
This module helps students digest ESG and impact investing, explores the different types of ESG investing and show students examples of successful ESG firms. We teach social investing through stories, and look at the history of ESG to gain historical perspective on why it has gained prominence for investors and society as a whole.
Day 9:
Financial Services Careers
This module helps students examine various careers in financial services and appreciate their role within the industry. We discuss potential career paths and relevant skills to thrive in interviews, internships, and students’ future careers, contextualized with the foundational knowledge in previous modules.
Day 10:
How To Get A Job On Wall Street
In the final session of the Bootcamp, we will review best practices on preparing a resume, walk students through mock finance interviews, and discuss some of the challenges faced by people of color entering financial services careers. We contextualize the teaching over the past 2 weeks and administer an exit exam to gauge the efficacy of the program for future cohorts.
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How Much Does The Program Cost?
Absolutely nothing except your time, focus, and passion to learn. We are incredibly fortunate to have corporate partnerships which help offset the cost of our Summer Program such that we can provide an incredible learning experience at zero cost to students, parents, and other educators.
When Can I Sign-Up?
Applications for the 2022 Summer Program with the Chicago Sky has officially closed and we're excited to welcome over 100 students in-person this summer! We had an overwhelming number of applicants this year and appreciate your understanding that we prioritized applications on a first-come first-serve basis. If you would like to join us in August, please check out the After School Matters program "Teens On Wall Street" at the link here: https://www.afterschoolmatters.org/teens/apply/
What Are Key Dates?
The 2022 Summer Application Process is now open! We've started accepting applications and will continue to accept applications up until the March 15th deadline. We may follow up with certain candidates for virtual interviews, however, not receiving an interview does not disadvantage your application. Applications for the 2023 Summer will be made avaialable in early 2023.
Cohorts have already be announced. We will finalized Summer 2023 applications by April 1st and applicants will be notified about their status the first week of April. Please keep in mind that even if you were unable to participate in the program this Summer, we're not going anywhere and will provide previous applicants priortiy in future cohorts.
A Virtual Kick-Off Event will be scheduled for sometime in May, during the weekend, where we plan to explain the program to students, parents & guardians, teachers, and other educators who helping facilitate this program. This will be an opportunity to answer any additional questions before we kick-off the Summer!
Specific dates for each of the Summer 2022 cohorts can be found in the section above which outlines the program schedule, and we will release an updated 2023 schedule in early January.
How Many Cohorts Are There?
We are currently planning to host 8 cohorts. This includes 2 in-person cohorts in Chicago during June, July, and August. We also plan to host 2 virtual cohorts during July and August with educators from across the country as we continue to expand our program.
Why Are Cohorts Capped At 15 Students?
Dreams For Kids and Rapunzl felt that in order to deliver a quality education, we needed to maintain low student-to-teacher ratios. This will allow students to receive more personalized attention throughout the program, ultimately increasing retention and learning outcomes.
How Can I Get Started On Rapunzl?
It’s actually pretty simple. Create a free Rapunzl account using your school email. We’ll send you an email verifying your account and then you’re all set! We give you $10,000 to buy and sell stocks using near real-time data. The top performing portfolios for the competition time period win prizes!
What's The Catch?
There’s no catch! Our program does not collect personally identifiable information on students or any Rapunzl users for that matter. We strongly believe that people should earn while they learn to invest and that our investment competitions will create a new way for young investors to enter the world of investing.
Have Another Question?
If you have any additional questions, including leveraging Rapunzl at your school or hosting a virtual cohort with a group of students, please reach out directly to rapunzl@dreamsforkids.org and we will respond within 3 business days. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
