Our mission
Stocks in the Future’s mission is to empower students in underserved communities by providing financial education and opportunities to invest in their future, giving everyone a voice in the market.
Vision
Stocks in the Future’s vision is to create wealth equity where every person has access to financial independence and security.
Purpose
Community members are given tools to build financial security with hands-on experiences showing them the importance of financial education in everyday life. Financial education is necessary because it helps community members make informed decisions which develop financial wellbeing.
Values
Educate, Encourage, Empower
We are a 501c3 organization which provides a three-year financial literacy curriculum for middle-school students in under-served communities. Developed at Johns Hopkins University, we introduce students to business concepts, expansion possibilities, reasons for taking a company public, and ways to compare company performances. As students learn, they earn money by attending school regularly and improving grades. Earnings up to 80 SIF dollars each year enables students to purchase publicly traded company stocks that become theirs when graduating from high school and turning eighteen. Academic fundamentals are reinforced throughout.
How our program works in schools
- Principals select classes and designate teachers from varying disciplines. It is best the program begins at the 6th grade level.
- Classes meet once a week during the school day for 45 minutes to an hour. The program begins in October and ends in May.
- Given trainings and a scripted curriculum, teachers impart investment fundamentals that reinforce mathematics, reading and social studies skills.
- Teaching tools are workbooks, textbooks, research and quizzes on the dedicated webpage. We prefer students have access to laptops during each SIF class.
- Attendance and grades are entered into SIF student portfolios each quarter. Students make investments and check their investments throughout their time in the program.
- Perfect weekly school attendance and improvements in mathematics and reading grades enables students to “earn” SIF dollars used to purchase publicly-traded company stocks.
- The potential earnings are $80 a year. The largest student portfolio on record that was transferred was $780.
- Investments accumulate during three years. When ‘graduating’ from middle school, students continue tracking their portfolios on-line and can make stock trades once a year.
- When graduating from high school and turning eighteen, students must contact SIF within a year of graduating to claim their portfolios. The process involves filing a form and opening their own investment account. SIF is dedicated to helping students through this process.
How Do I Earn Stock?
Perfect attendance including the SIF class
earns $1 each week.
Perfect attendance for an entire quarter,
earns $1 bonus.
Improving your reading grade earns $2.
Improving your math grade earns $2.
Reading grade at A or A- earns $3 or
$2 for a B+, B, or B-.
Math grade at A or A- earns $3 or
$2 for a B+, B, or B-.
Total Possible Earnings = $80
Total Possible
per Quarter
$8 to $10
(depending on the
number of weeks)
$1
$2
$2
$3
$3
Total Possible
per Year
$36
$4
$8
$8
$12
$12
Our History
To improve middle school student performances, Pat Bernstein approached Johns Hopkins University’s Center for the Social Organization of Schools (CSOS) in 2000 with the idea of creating an online program linking attendance and academic improvements with learning financial investment fundamentals. Targeting under-performing students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, they developed a three year curriculum incorporating learning business fundamentals, incentives for improvements in schools, and earning investment funding capabilities.
The pilot stage showed a high level of interest that produced desired results and encourage the program’s transition to an important supplemental opportunity. Its success showed an increasing number of student participation with stock purchases reflecting the students improved school performances. Teachers realize the educational benefits, and there is important simultaneous learning among families.
Initially, funding came from the Bernstein Family Foundation and was supplemented with corporate support. When becoming a nonprofit organization, contribution resources expanded. Foundations, corporations and individual funders sustain the momentum as a 501C.3 organization that resides at Johns Hopkins School of Education.
We extend our appreciation to Mrs. Bernstein and the Bernstein Family Foundation for initiating and orchestrating this program.
Nondiscrimination Policy
Stocks in the Future does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, the appointment to and termination from its Board of Directors, hiring and firing of staff or contractors, selection of volunteers, selection of vendors, and providing of services.
Stocks in the Future is an equal opportunity employer. We shall not discriminate and will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, Board membership, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, or for any other discriminatory reason.
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Contact us
443-955-2254
PO Box 19124
Towson, MD 21284
Rebecca Thernes
rebecca.thernes@sifinvest.org
Partner with us
Interested in being a Partner School with
Stocks in the Future? We are happy to share the successes of our partner schools and discuss what it takes to be a part of our program.