Word had begun to spread in late October that there was to be another welcome addition to Ward Melville’s extensive and variegated roster of clubs – a financial literacy club, if you will. There would be paper trading (simulated, of course), investments; if ever a term existed in the jargon of what seemed an oft-unfriendly and exclusive fiscal realm, it should soon be a part of the communal lexicon, a charge employed at able minds’ discretion. Many an eager student saw that it furnished a means of preparation for the ventures of the treacherous stock market proper, and a corporate, but very much alien, world to most.

Now, by mid-late November, the NextGenVest (that’s to say, Next Generation of Investors) club has fared well, with membership in full swing and students active in their projects. Advised by Mr. Ambrose, the group learns about “investing and paper trading,” commented Josh Farahzad, a junior, businessman aspirant, and student president of the club. “We write articles about the investment process and strategies, too. There are times when we’ll make pitches, like on Shark Tank, and we also use wallstreetsurvivor.com, so there is internal competition. We even afford our members internships over the summer.”

Among the upcoming features of the club will be the making of videos investigating and reporting on certain aspects of the business world (i.e; hedge funds and mutual funds) to publish on the website of the NextGenVest national organization, founded in 2013 by Harvard economics major Kelly Peeler, of which the Ward Melville chapter is a branch. “These videos will subsequently be used by some two hundred to three hundred schools nationwide, in their business curriculum.” When posed a question as to the club’s ultimate goal, their president was quick to respond: “Well, we’re different from Future Business Leaders of America in that we’re not in competition with other schools. Rather, this organization offers its chapters opportunities for learning about business that I think wouldn’t do us well to miss out on.”