Teen Money Smart Camp: Cash, Stocks and Start-ups


Week 1 – Financial EQ & Teamwork

Learn how habits, personalities, and decision‑making impact money and leadership.

Week 2 – Money Basics

Budgeting, wants vs. needs, and smart money choices.

Week 3 – Investing 101

What stocks are, how investing works, and building a diversified portfolio.

Week 4 – Market Ups & Downs

Track investments and learn how real‑world events affect the market.

Week 5 – Types of Investments

Explore stocks, bonds, funds, and long‑term investing through fast‑paced games.

Week 6 – Business Ideas

Brainstorm and develop business ideas based on real‑world needs.

Week 7 – Community Analysis & Business Decisions

Analyze businesses in a town and decide what works, what doesn’t, and why.

Week 8 – Marketing & Emotions

Discover what makes marketing effective and how emotions affect investing.

Week 9 – SWOT & Strategy

Learn how to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Week 10 – Business Planning

Create and refine a business plan with peer feedback.

Week 11 – Pitching & Money Tracking

Practice elevator pitches and learn to track income and expenses.

Week 12 – Final Prep

Create final posters and prepare to showcase business ideas

In this hands-on, game-filled program high school students learn how money and businesses actually work — not from a lecture, but from games, relays, and problem-solving challenges. Students start with Financial EQ, discovering how their own personality and decision-making style affects money and leadership, then dive into real-life money topics like wants vs. needs, cash flow, and compound interest. From there it's investing — stock market simulations that show how emotions and news events move real decisions in real time. Finally, students become mini entrepreneurs, brainstorming, planning, and pitching their own business ideas. The program wraps with an Entrepreneur Fair where students puts it all into practice.

Learning outcomes

  • Feel confident talking about money instead of confused or intimidated by it

  • Understand core money concepts — wants vs. needs, cash flow, assets, liabilities, and compound interest

  • Understand how investing and the stock market work, without the fear or mystery

  • Learn how a business is built, from idea to elevator pitch, by building one themselves