Project Denarius
Our Mission Statement:
We believe that education is the key to fiscal responsibility and empowerment. To this end, we seek to assess and analyze the financial literacy of high school students with the goal of developing innovative, bespoke educational materials with an emphasis on stock-market-related topics. We also endeavor to advocate for the implementation and dissemination of the materials developed.
The Three Phases Of Project Denarius:
Assessment
Analysis
Recommendation and Advocacy
Phase one involves the testing of the actual level of financial literacy present within the school community. This is done through the use of a survey which is distributed to the entire student body.
Phase two focuses primarily on analyzing the raw data collected in phase one. A report will be generated and presented to school administration. The report generated in this phase is crucial to the success of phase three.
Phase three consists of developing educational materials and advocating the implementation of financial literacy programs to school administration. The advocacy applies both to our solutions, as well as to financial literacy programs in general.
The Future of Project Denarius
The future of Project Denarius is will consist of two parts:
Completion at La Salle Academy
First and foremost, the three phases of Project Denarius must be completed and refined at our home school, La Salle Academy.
Expansion
Upon the completion of the three phases at La Salle Academy, we will begin to offer our services to other school communities. It is our hope that the tools of assessment and analysis can be used to better school communities around the state and country.
FAQs
Why “Denarius?”
Project Denarius was named after the Roman silver coin, the denarius. Denarii were used for centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Symbolically, we chose the silver coin of the Romans rather than the gold coin to represent that our project deals primarily with the finances of high schoolers, microfinance in most cases. Also, like the denarius, we hope that the tools developed through our project will last for many years to come.
Who works on this project?
Project Denarius consists of three members: myself, Haoyang Chang and Cameron Surtel.
Why was this project developed?
This project was initially started when we were all accepted into a gifted and talented program called “La Salle Scholars.” The program helps selected students develop projects that they are passionate about. We chose to work together out of a shared interest in economic empowerment through financial education.