School's IN for Summer

Last summer, the college developed two summer camps—one focused on financial literacy and one focused on entrepreneurship. Due to their success, both programs are expanding their offerings. The Dollars and Sense finance camp is now offering sessions for both middle and high school students, and Beyond the Lemonade Stand: An Entrepreneurship and Innovation Experience has gone from two to four days and is partnering with WMU’s college of engineering and applied sciences to provide a richer experience for students.

Dollars and Sense Finance Camps

These camps are open to students who have completed grades 7 through 12. More than 10 different finance topics are explored. Topics such as why a stock market crashes, debt, investment choices and how to save for college are examined in the interactive setting of the Greenleaf Trust Trading Room. The camps include a trip to Chicago to visit the stock exchanges and meet with finance professionals.

“With college debt looming to huge proportions and relatively few high schools and universities requiring personal finance as a course, it is imperative that our youth be exposed to as many opportunities as possible to become financially literate,” says Dr. Jim DeMello, chair of the Department of Finance and Commercial Law. “Our camps for 7th through 12th graders are designed to do exactly that.”

Beyond the Lemonade Stand: An Entrepreneurship and Innovation Experience

This camp is for students who have completed grades 9 through 12 who have started a business or thought of starting a business. The college of business and the college of engineering and applied sciences host the camp. Participants meet entrepreneurs, take tours of local companies, get hands-on time in engineering labs, learn from experts and pitch business ideas.

“The entrepreneurial community in Kalamazoo is growing quickly, and we wanted to reach out to local high school students who may be thinking of taking an entrepreneurial path while in college and after college,” says Lara Hobson, operations director of Starting Gate, WMU’s student business accelerator. “The success of last year’s camp shows us that there are many young, aspiring entrepreneurs in our local community.”