Big Board Takes to Blackboard for Elementary Lesson
Wall Street, embodied in the three-piece-suited chief of the New York Stock Exchange, came to San Diego’s Sherman Elementary School Friday, and 60 fifth-graders were ready.
They wore their red T-shirts emblazoned with the initials NYSE. And they had their questions.
Squirming impatiently in their seats, the children took their best shots at John J. Phelan Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of the stock exchange.
Do you think Japan will be the richest country in the world? one bright and somewhat apprehensive student asked.
“Oh, no, I think the United States will be,” Phelan answered. “Looking at all of you, why would I think the Japanese would be better than you are?”
All right, then, asked another, what about the stock market, do you think it will crash?
“We certainly hope not,” Phelan said. “We do very well, then we do too well sometimes . . . (and the market) gets over-extended and then it gets under-extended.”
OK, so how do you become a stockbroker? Phelan was asked. It’s not easy, he replied. In fact, it’s a lot of work. But above all, he said, you have to “understand the fundamentals of being able to read, write and do mathematics, and that will help you in any business.”
In his way, Phelan was trying to help the students do just that. The children, part of a special magnet program at the school that emphasizes business and government, are in the midst of a two-month study of the stock market.
They are being taught the concepts of profit and loss, investment, finance, and loans and interest. And those in the fourth through sixth grades are even making interest on money they have in individual accounts through a special agreement between the school and Great American First Savings Bank.
Phelan was inspired to speak at Sherman Elementary after the senior vice president of the NYSE, Peter D. Moore, told Phelan that he was impressed by a visit to the school he made last year. Phelan was in town for a three-day meeting of the Securities Regulation Institute held in Coronado.
Study of the stock market began Jan. 17 and will continue through March, said Dennis W. Doyle, the school’s vice principal.
“The stock market is even difficult for us as adults to understand,” said Cecilia Estrada, principal of San Diego’s newest magnet school, “but with our lesson plan, we bring it down to the children’s level so they can understand how it works.”
Just how much of this economic curriculum will kids remember? Quite a lot, said teacher Steve Antti. In just two months, the students may know more about the ins and outs of the stock market than the average citizen learns in a lifetime.
“Kids will be walking away from this unit with the knowledge of how stocks and prices go up and down,” Antti said. “They can actually read how many stocks were traded. The main retention for them is that they’ll be able to say, ‘There’s something more I can do with my money.’ ”
Phelan’s visit was especially meaningful for the children, said Thomas W. Payzant, school district superintendent. “This is an opportunity for children in San Diego city schools to have direct access to a person who has a very important role in business and dealing with issues in our economy. They are able to learn (about) the stock exchange and meet one of the people who makes that stock exchange happen.”
As part of his visit, Phelan not only fielded questions but also toured the elementary school in Golden Hill, which began its magnet program in July to attract Anglo students and better integrate the student body, Doyle said. The students also learn to speak Spanish, and teachers plan to add Japanese to the curriculum next year.
On the tour, Phelan greeted third- and fourth-graders who formed their own business during the holidays making wrapping paper and gift bags to sell for 25 cents. They learned the principle of supply and demand rapidly: Phelan bought a dollar’s worth of their gift bags at a special “after Christmas sale” price of 5 cents each. So far, their business has grossed $178.
Phelan said he left Sherman Elementary with an “optimistic feeling” that gave him “great hope for the country and for the future.” He added that he was encouraged by the computer skills the students were learning.
“It’s wonderful to see people in kindergartens and first- and second-graders learning to become computer literate, because, by the time they grow up, that will be a way of life. . . . I have people who work for me who can’t do that,” Phelan said.
Phelan also lauded the school’s bilingual program. “What they’re learning here is not irrelevant to life. They are teaching basic skills to be able to survive. (Not knowing other languages) has been a great inhibitor to trade and commerce,” he said.
Although the school emphasizes business, Doyle was careful to note that the curriculum covers other subjects. “These children are going to be future leaders in business and in government,” he said. “The government aspect is civic consciousness. . . . They’re not going to be yuppies.”
