Students take stock of their fiscal futures with new finance lab

PATERSON, NEW JERSEY -- Students at a New Jersey high school will soon study the stock market with a brand new room dedicated to high finance.

The finance lab was unveiled at John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson,fully equipped with new computers, a stock prices ticker and other amenities.

Students will get quasi-hands-on experience, learning what it means to be financially fit and Wall Street savvy.

"So you better have the knowledge on how to manage your money," sophomore Ludin Marroquin said. "I think this lab is cool. It's my first time ever seeing something like this."

It's a whole new environment for some eager young minds.

"We don't want them to be intimidated," a Kennedy High School faculty member said. "The same way many of our students are engaged by following a sports team, the same thing can happen with, say, a company like Tesla."

The school encourages students to put what they learn to use way before they leave high school behind.

Downstairs they have Castle 2.0, a real branch of the North Jersey Federal Credit Union where many students and teachers have accounts. Teens can earn positions as tellers.

"They take deposits, they cash checks, they open new accounts," said Martine Grant, Kennedy High School's supervisor of business. "We have students who have had summer internships with North Jersey Federal Credit Union, won scholarships for going to college."

In the finance lab, students will follow the business world in real time.

"If the CEO of Tesla sends out a tweet, how does it impact that company," said Jorge Osoria, Kennedy's principal of Instruction.

The finance lab will be available for students to use starting in the fall semester.