MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Many parents feel overwhelmed by the idea of teaching their kids about money. But what if financial education could be fun, engaging, and most importantly, effective?
Inside the tiny and progressive WIDE School in Missouri City, students are taking a unique approach to their finances and learning about life skills.
“The biggest thing that you really need to be considering on anything you’re going to do is: Can you recognize opportunity, and if you can’t, can you make opportunity for yourself?” said WIDE School Financial Literacy Coach Mark MacInerney.
As part of the curriculum, students agree to exercise, medicate, and do house chores all before heading into class in the morning, which is known as project-based learning.
“These kids have to do a triathlon,” said MacInerney. “We’re training now, it’s part of the course.”
MacInerney is determined to push these teens to hustle and learn how to manage their money once they start making it.
“What do you do with it then? The next things we’re seeking are the cars, houses, and material goods that make up a life, but it’s amazing how most people are unaware of the importance of credit, and the importance of how to build it, and how to save money in order to buy that house, or you know, to invest,” MacInerney said.
“Mr. Mark is a very inspirational teacher and he focuses more on motivating students in class,” said student Alex Ambrese.
Each student is required to participate in the 90-day challenge. MacInerney said it’s a way to teach students to commit to something.
The challenges focus on picking and sticking to four core habits.
- Body - Staying active and healthy.
- Being - Doing acts of kindness.
- Balance - Spending time with family and friends.
- Business - Actively trying to start or grow a business idea.
“We pick a topic or goal and we try and better ourselves in that area,” said fellow student Hendrix Preston.
Some students in the class are marketing and selling their music on YouTube.
Preston said he picked boxing.
“It’s something new. I was looking for a new sport. I’m enjoying it a lot.”
Accountability is part of the lesson too. Each student sends video proof of their daily challenges to a group chat with their classmates, parents, and teacher.
“If you have someone holding you accountable, that will train you to hold yourself accountable,” said Ambrese.
“I can tell since we started this core for all of this, I’ve felt more disciplined and more driven to do more things and explore new areas that I never even thought of doing before,” Preston adds.
MacInerney said you can do this same challenge at home with your kids.
The most important thing is to establish good habits they can stick to and talk to them openly about money.
If they see and hear you talking about it openly, chances are they’ll be more interested in it and remember what you’re saying.