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Carmichaels Area SD students get $10,000 pilot investment fund from Community Foundation donors
Summary
The school board approved a pilot student-run investment club seeded with $10,000 from the Forget Me Not Fund at the Community Foundation of Greene County. Donors will keep the corpus with the foundation; students will make investment recommendations under a financial advisor's oversight.
The Carmichaels Area SD board approved a pilot student investment club seeded with $10,000 from a donor-advised Forget Me Not Fund held by the Community Foundation of Greene County.
The proposal, introduced by a staff member who asked the board for approval, said the foundation will hold the corpus and that the club would operate as a learning activity in which students contribute to investment decisions. "The funds will stay with the community foundation," the foundation representative said, adding the donors supported using the gift to create a pilot program that could be expanded to other districts.
Students who will run or participate in the club described the educational benefit. "When Mrs. Menhart came to me for the opportunity to start an investment club, I was excited," student Brandon Christopher said, describing experience with the stock market game and the difference of working with real money. Fellow student Dayton Reynolds said the club aims to grow the fund and involve more students: "We're gonna learn investment tips, and we're really excited to use this money for future [investment] and keep building."
Board members asked how oversight would work; the foundation representative said one of its financial-advisor partners (named as either Josh Shanes of Milinovich and Company or Michelle Mead of LPL) would ultimately sign off on investments. The proposal also stated that if the club or fund were to end, the corpus would remain with the Community Foundation.
The board later formalized the club as an extracurricular activity for the 2024–25 school year and noted the program would be open to donations. The agreement's administrative and compliance details will be worked out with the foundation and the school before student-managed trades occur.
Next steps: staff will bring final bylaws and oversight details to the board as required; the club is slated to operate on activity periods already scheduled for students.
