MIAMI - On a typical Friday at Kingdom Academy, nine- and 10-year-old entrepreneurs would be chasing profits — for a cause.
Randon Perry would be on the mic, hyping up crowds that gathered around The Stars, a performing-arts enterprise. The boys behind The Beast would offer sports lessons for a fee. The social media-savvy #Sweets hawked confections, but faced stiff competition from Pieces of Joy's baked goods.
Fourth-graders at this diverse private school in western Miami-Dade County spend their first semester learning business concepts and doing market research. (The proprietors of The Beast found out through a SurveyMonkey poll of their classmates that basketball, football and soccer were the most popular sports.) They launched their ventures in January, offering real products and services to classmates for real money. They split the end-of-year proceeds between Autism Speaks and another charity of their choice.
Fourth-graders at Kingdom Academy, a Miami-Dade private school, show off businesses they launched to hone their financial acumen.
The animal lovers behind Pieces of Joy sent their profits to PetsSmart Charities. They were the top earners, netting $160 after the cost of supplies. Their flagship product, cake pops, commanded $2 apiece. Daniella Vega, the lead supervisor, explained their appeal: "You can take cake anywhere, and just eat in your hand."
The school embraces project-based learning, building lessons for each grade around a theme that helps students connect their classroom to the real world.
In Kindergarten, students probed the question: Where does food come from? Fifth-graders explored what makes America's government different from other governments around the world.
Fourth graders learned what it would take to become a young entrepreneur.
But at Kingdom Academy, children have to demonstrate financial acumen at an even younger age. (more…)
A bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers is back again with a proposal that has some influential supporters. They want every student who graduates high school to complete a course in financial literacy.
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A similar measure failed to pass last legislative session. To fare better this year it needs to overcome a key objection: Students may have a hard time finding room in their schedules for another graduation requirement.
Right now, Florida is in the process of implementing a two-year-old digital learning law that might offer some novel ways to overcome that obstacle, like a new course access system.
Supporters of a mandatory "money course" have marshaled research showing students would benefit from learning how to manage their finances, as well as testimonials from teachers who say it's difficult to fit personal-finance units into semester-long economics courses, as state law currently requires.
Newspapers around the state have endorsed the standalone course, as have business leaders and prominent elected officials like Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.
All of them make good points. This week, however, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel shed some light on the other side of the story:
Kathi Gundlach, president of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers association, said financial literacy classes should not be required.
“More and more classes are being mandated, and they’re usually unfunded,” she said. “We don’t have any money for books or to do it. Financial literacy is already included in the course work.”
The number of mandated courses is a valid concern. Students generally need 24 credits to finish high school, and for many of them, the state's core course requirements leave room for only eight electives. Each of those slots is precious if they want to take band or drama, learn computer programming, pursue the arts, learn a foreign language, pick up college credits through Advanced Placement, or earn industry certifications.
Ambitious students already find ways to take classes beyond the traditional six credits a year for four years of high school — online, over the summer, while they're in middle school. They're about to have more options at their disposal.
Budgets. Miami-Dade's superintendent plans to lower tax rates while boosting spending. Miami Herald. The Pasco school board trims a list of staff additions. Gradebook.
Campaigns. A liberal Democratic caucus questions Charlie Crist's education record, including his positions on school choice, and promotes Nan Rich, his Democratic gubernatorial primary opponent. Tampa Tribune. Sunshine State News. The Pinellas teachers union makes an endorsement for an open school board seat. Gradebook.
Testing. The Pinellas school district plans to scrutinize students' FCAT writing responses. Tampa Bay Times.
Discipline. The Duval school board rewrites its code of conduct. Florida Times-Union. Discipline is among the top issues for principal candidates in Lakewood Ranch. Bradenton Herald.
Cellphones. Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties adopt more relaxed policies, saying cellphones have become educational devices. Pensacola News-Journal.
Financial literacy. Florida is the first state in the nation to adopt national standards. Gradebook.
Summer. The Pasco school district takes kids outdoors with a summer adventure camp. Tampa Bay Times.
