Accounting and Marketing. Financial planning and professional ethics. Maintaining good credit, saving money and investing wisely. These are just some of the skills students learn from Burbank Teachers Association (BTA) members.

Student Alaiyah Holland.

In 2021, the program received a “distinguished award” from the National Academy Foundation, an industry-sponsored nonprofit with a national network of public-private partnerships that support career academies within traditional high schools.

“Lots of people enjoy money, but don’t really understand it,“ says Diane Grair, who teaches marketing, financial literacy and accounting.

Students have excelled in the National Capitol Hill Challenge, an online stock market game to teach investment strategies. Partnering with local businesses, students create business plans.

BTA treasurer Alyson Edge founded the academy and now oversees it, along with the school’s medical and engineering academies. She has co-authored a financial literacy book for teens, Time Worth Spending.

“My favorite was the stock market game,” says student Alaiyah Holland. “I was given $100,000 and three months and learned how to buy, sell and trade stock. I learned key terms such as a stock split and dividends. I plan to use my knowledge to attend San Francisco State University and achieve my goal of becoming a brand marketing manager.”