Thanks to an anonymous donor, seniors at three public high schools in Athens will begin the school year with a special financial literacy lecture and $1,000 investment portfolios to manage.
Through the nonprofitGifted Savings, the portfolios were distributed to over 800 12th graders at Cedar Shoals, Clarke Central, and Classic City high schools. They will research stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, and even bitcoin during the course of the upcoming year, monitoring the performance of their assets in real time.
Farhad Mohit, the founder of Gifted Savings, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a thousand dollars can make a difference in someone’s life if given at the appropriate time and location. This is how I plan to address the nation’s income inequality. The pupils receive their money directly.
Following a trial at a charter school in Los Angeles, Mohit, a prosperous digital entrepreneur who developed Flipagram, Shopzilla, and Bizrate.com, introduced Gifted Savings as a district-wide initiative in Clarke County. Students must finish 20 financial literacy modules, stay enrolled for the full academic year, and turn 18 before graduating in order to preserve their portfolios.The Clarke County School District provided the image.
Logan Smalley, the executive director of TED-Ed and a graduate of Clarke Central High, urged the group to concentrate on Athens due to the city’s multigenerational poverty. The district’s social studies director, his brother Ben Smalley, worked with high school personnel to plan the program’s implementation.
“We’re not just teaching financial literacy, we’re building confidence, ownership, and long-term opportunity by giving our seniors real investment portfolios and the tools to grow them,” said Dr. Jennifer Scott, interim CCSD superintendent.
During assemblies on August 7, students were informed about their unexpected gift. They were given personal accounts on the Gifted Savings app, which offers weekly courses on investing, saving, and purposeful money management, in addition to their portfolios. After finishing the curriculum and turning 18, seniors will have complete control over their portfolios and be free to invest or cash out as they see fit. They will also spend 15 minutes a week in advisory working through the modules.
At a special TEDx event at the end of the school year, seniors will discuss what they have learnt thanks to a relationship with TED-Ed.Josh Landay, executive director of Gifted Savings, gave a presentation to Clarke County high school seniors in Athens on Thursday about his charity organization. (Photo courtesy of Clarke County School District)
When a teacher asked me why I chose Athens, I told Josh Landay, executive director of Gifted Savings, that the answer was straightforward. Here, we thought we could truly touch generations, and the community has demonstrated the will and compassion to make it happen. Athens can set a bright example for the rest of the nation and is a city where people get together to accomplish great things.
The first year of student portfolios is covered by the $1.2 million donation, which also includes a match for the second year. According to the AJC, the initiative will cost $814,000 in its first year, with the long-term objective of establishing an endowment of $16 million to support it indefinitely. Over the course of the following four years, researchers from the University of Georgia will examine the program’s effects on students, families, and the Athens community.
David Bradley, executive director of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, referred to the program as the genuine deal and claimed that it would provide kids with hope for the future. In order to maintain Gifted Savings in Clarke County until at least 2030, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, Athens Area Community Foundation, and other local leaders have committed to raising the remaining monies.