By the fall of the year, middle and high school students at Lake Michigan Catholic in St. Joseph will have the opportunity to gain substantial experience in the world of global trading and finance thanks to alum Sam Monte and his wife, Connie.
A generous donation from the Monte family is helping transform the current media bay at LMC Middle/High School into a state-of-the-art Global Trading and Finance Lab.That new lab is slated to welcome its first students in the Fall of 2020. Middle and high school students will be able to take a variety of business and finance classes in the lab, with a focus on realistic trading simulations using StockTrak software.
Top universities such as Yale, Georgetown, New York University and the University of Chicago are using the same software platform that will be used in LMC’s classrooms for their own global portfolio simulation and virtual trading rooms, providing real-world learning at its best.
Sam Monte says, “In this day and age, the knowledge of how money transfers and works throughout the world is invaluable for students,” and adds, “We hope that LMC students develop a greater understanding of what their money means to them and how they are going to use it, both now and in the future.”
Features of the lab include a 12-foot LED stock ticker, which will display delayed data for the U.S. stock markets, sports scores and more; two 65-inch monitors with market reports and live-stream rankings from LMC’s personal trade simulation site; and 20 student work stations for hands-on learning.
James White, Principal for LMC Middle/High School, says, “More than half of our students end up in a business-related field,” and notes, “The Global Trading and Finance Lab gives our students a platform to experience the international nature of business through realistic simulations, experiential learning and team collaboration.”
The Sam and Connie Global Trading and Finance Lab will be home to eight new business classes at LMC, including:
- Financial Literacy
- Introduction to Business
- Global Trading
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Finance
- Economics
- Stocks and Bonds Trading
While coursework is designed for middle and high-schoolers, students as young as fourth grade may benefit from age-appropriate budgeting and financial literacy instruction in the lab.
Nadia Bucholtz is Director of Advancement for the Lake Michigan Catholic School Fund. She says, “We are very grateful for the generous, continued support of Sam and Connie,” and adds, “They recognize the incredible potential of this project to change the lives of our students, and this is another substantial piece of the powerful legacy they are building at Lake Michigan Catholic.”
Sam and Connie met at Michigan State University, and the couple has sent four children and five grandchildren through Lake Michigan Catholic, while consistently supporting the schools. In the 1980s, Connie was named Laker of the Year for her exceptional contributions to LMC.
Lake Michigan Catholic is a private pre-kindergarten through 12th grade Catholic school dedicated to nourishing the human spirit – mind, body and soul – though Jesus Christ. You can learn more online at lmclakers.org.
