Partnership Programs
Opportunities Through Economics
Opportunities Through Economics program is sponsored by Koch Industries, Inc. and the Kansas Center for Economic Education. The program’s central focus is teaching economics and personal finance through fun lesson plans and competitions.
Last year, students participated in the LifeSmarts competition hosted here at the Boys & Girls Club. LifeSmarts goes beyond the central focus of our Economics program to teach health, safety, the environment, and technology, as well as personal finance and consumer rights and responsibilities. Through that experience, students were inspired to prepare vigorously and hopefully participate in the Junior Varsity competition in the fall.
The other major competition students participated in was the Stock Market Game. Through this experience, students learned a lot about the stock market and investing and created investment portfolios with the help of WSU students. Individual and team winners of the competition were recognized.
Other components of the curriculum include Gen-I Revolution, Financial Foundations for Kids, Econ & Me, School House Rock, John Stossel in the Classroom and the Risky Business lesson series. This curriculum teaches basic principles of economics and personal finance using everyday situations. Throughout the lessons, students are able to earn and save “Koch Bucks” to spend at the end of the semesters on prizes and incentives.
These teachings, in addition to games and competitions, teach them valuable lessons in financial literacy that put them at a level beyond that of many adults.
Cargill Agri-science Program
Cargill® has made it possible for Club members to learn how Agriscience is applied to crop production. The club members who participate in the project have the unique opportunity to plant their own seeds, care for their own plants, track plant growth, and attend lectures in the Technology Center where they are shown how to use computer applications Microsoft Excel® and Microsoft Word® for plotting bar and line graphs and make crop projections from the data/plots. They also conduct research on various vegetables using the internet.
The members participating in the Cargill® Project HOPE also create individual Notebooks containing research/data and their personal Agriscience experience.
Food Bank
In 2009, we provided over 44,000 meals and over 15,000 snacks.
Lego Robotics
The Wichita State University College of Engineering offers Lego Robotics to 2nd – 5th graders at the WSU campus during spring break and summer. The students build robots out of legos and program them to complete challenge courses.
YEK
YEK is a Koch Industries sponsored program that teaches free enterprise fundamentals through hands-on experiences and encourages students to start their own business, enhance their business skills for future career opportunities and continue into higher education.
During the Boys & Girls Clubs after school program and summer camp each student writes a business plan and participates in classroom competitions. YEK graduates’ involvement is encouraged by an alumni program, which promotes continued learning, networking opportunities and access to additional resources.