Donation assists financial education at high school

Date: 3/15/2011

March 16, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD — There are clocks on one wall denoting the times in the financial capitols of the world. There are desk after desk of computers displaying news from financial Web sites. On another wall is a stock ticker listing the latest prices from the New York Stock Exchange.

Is this a high-tech broker's office? No, it's the newest classroom facility at the High School of Science and Technology (HSST).

Thanks to a $59,000 grant from MassMutual, the school now has a "Trading Room" for its Academy of Finance program.

School officials joined Mayor Domenic Sarno and Michael Hicks, the vice president of IT Strategy and Operations at MassMutual, for the official opening of the classroom on March 10.

"We are grateful to MassMutual for this wonderful new Trading Room and are sure our students will put it to good use," HSST Principal Ira Brown said. "The more tools we can provide to our students to help them acquire 21st century skills, the more prepared and competitive they will be as they pursue a future career."

HSST is one of 264 schools across the country that participates in the Academy of Finance education model. According to information supplied by its national office, the Academy of Finance are "schools within schools ... which require students to take academically challenging courses in business, social studies, math and language arts."

The program is designed to prepare "students for post-secondary education in finance-related majors."

MassMutual's headquarters can bee seen from the windows of the classroom and Hicks said, "MassMutual is continually looking for ways to inspire students to consider careers in financial services. By building a new trade room at HSST, we are providing students with state-of-the-art tools to explore the exciting opportunities that the world of finance can provide."

Stephen Cox is the instructor who will be using the new Trading Room and he was enthusiastic about the educational possibilities the new facility provides. He said that before the installation of the new classroom, there were no computers, Smart Board, or white board.

Cox said there are 250 students enrolled in the Academy of Finance program and they are studying an introduction to financial resources. In the future, the school will offer classes in business and financial management, entrepreneurship and marketing that will use the resources of the new classroom.

Darius Branch, a freshman in the Academy of Finance program said, "I'm excited. Every kid wants to go to school and be given an opportunity to shine."

He added, "I look at that building [MassMutual] every day. I'll never look at that building the same way."