In this volatile economy, would you trust your investments to a class of ninth graders? You might if they were in Mark Riggins’ Introduction to Business class.

His students spend an entire year learning about the markets by engaging in foreign currency trading.

“I like getting my students to think,” Riggins says. “They don’t just memorize answers for an exam, they have to think and analyze.”

First, his business students put together a trading plan and open demonstration — or demo — accounts with demo money. Next, they actually engage in live trading, watching how the dollar performs in relation to other currencies and learning how the market works.

After that, they meet with the marketing, fashion, and acting classes and open accounts for those students who pretend to be celebrities with lots of money to manage. The business students form teams for the different accounts, electing one student as the account manager who oversees budgets, negotiates salaries, and presents the fees to the celebrities and explains the costs for managing their accounts.

At the end of the class, the students report on how well the money was managed and what happened with each of the accounts. And after all of that, they package everything they’ve learned and put it together in a money management course that they then have to market.

“This project covers every aspect of a business course,” says Riggins, who has been an educator for five years after an accomplished business career including real estate brokering, day trading, and operating a business in South America.

But of all his vocations, he says teaching is the most rewarding – personally, not financially, that is.

“I like teaching kids something to help them in life and to open their eyes to the reality of what life is going to be like,” he says. “When that light goes on and I see them understand, it’s a big deal. Even if I just impact two or three students, it could change the rest of their lives, and that’s more rewarding than anything.”

Riggins is a member of the Clark County Education Association, which represents educators in Las Vegas and surrounding areas of Nevada.

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