With Economics Club, CCA students make an investment in financial literacy

At Canyon Crest Academy, students Ian Bates and Tanish Kathirvelavan are making gains in students’ financial literacy by creating an active Economics Club at school. More than just a weekly meet-up, their goal with the club was to build a space where like-minded students could exchange ideas, explore real-world investing, analyze market trends and policy issues, “building skills that go far beyond the classroom.”

Tanish and Ian were inspired to start the club last year as they found there was limited access for students to study economics outside of a senior year AP economics class.  While the students said CCA offers a great Career Technical Education pathway with multiple business and business finance courses, there still weren’t many opportunities for students to apply their learning outside of the classroom.

“That’s where our club comes in,” Tanish said. “We give students the chance to put theory into practice.”

Since its founding last year, the club has grown to more than 80 members, making it the largest financial club on campus. They meet weekly in math teacher and club advisor Perola Knutsson’s room.

With the club’s Impact Fund project, students are raising funds and learning how to invest them into high growth options. The plan is to donate the proceeds to a chosen charity, combining financial learning with real community impact, Tanish said.

The club also simulates the decision-making process of a real hedge fund with its Student Fund project. Econ Club students have also participated in four major national competitions since last year, including the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition and the Harvard High School International Economics Essay Competition.

“Out of all of them, the most rewarding and challenging has definitely been the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition,” Tanish said. “It’s a prestigious, internationally recognized event, and we’re proud to be the first club at CCA to take part.”

For the competition, the club organized teams of four to six members, giving several students a chance to work together in a high-level, real-world setting.

In the investment challenge, students are given virtual cash to build an investment strategy for a client—they have access to an online stock market simulator and learn about risk, diversification, company and industry analysis, and many other aspects of investing. According to Wharton, 5,000 high school teams nationwide started the competition last September and 1,800 submitted final reports—10 finalists were named in spring 2025.

“More than just competing, it’s about empowering students to think critically, collaborate effectively, and push themselves in ways that are both challenging and inspiring,” Tanish said of the contest. In addition to competing again this year, he hopes to add more challenges for the club to take on.

This year Tanish and Ian also hope to launch an initiative to teach financial literacy and the basics of money management to elementary and middle school students through presentations and activities.

“Our goal is to create a year where students not only strengthen their understanding of economics, but also apply it in meaningful ways that leave a lasting impact,” Tanish said.

The club is ahead of the game. Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2927, which requires that high schools offer a semester-long personal finance education course by the 2027-28 school year, and makes personal finance a graduation requirement starting with the 2030-31 graduating class.