A teacher, seemingly standing on the side lines, steps out in front of a group of girls who are distracted by their phones and each other.
She points to a table set up on the opposite side of the school hall and says, “You all should go talk with those ladies. It is a group you would like…I wish they had it when I was in school.“
The students look at each other first, hesitate a moment, then head to our “Rock The Street, Wall Street” registration table.
This teacher, like many others before her, has just changed the college, career and life trajectory of these students!
The opportunity was there—we were there—and the teacher took the girls’ whirling, formative, capable minds and pointed them to something new instead of clinging to what they do everyday and turned their heads to the M of STEM, finance.
At Rock The Street, Wall Street, we call these change agents our “School Champions” and we’re FANATICAL about them. They:
- Recruit students to our program
- Liaison between their schools and our financial classroom volunteers
- Join us on field trips with RTSWS students to local financial institutions
- Report to the principal and other administrators on RTSWS’ impact
- Provide insights to parents about our program opportunities
- Coordinate with school facilities, transportation and communications
Assistant principals, business teachers, math teachers, librarians, guidance counselors and ESL instructors act as our school champions. They understand our mission and the life long impact it has on their students’ personal finances and career ambitions.
Teachers view our program as a hands on extension of the subjects they teach in their classrooms such as STEM, business and career counseling among others.
Cherly Vanosdall, math facilitator at South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte said, “Our staff is really excited about this program. We are a school that really supports STEM. We want to give students life experiences. We have staff that are really pushing other staff members saying “This is a great opportunity. Go do this!'”
School champions, thank you for your unshakable certainty in promoting personal financial skills to girls.
We know it is imperative to a successful life,
you know it is imperative to life…
And now THEY know it!