Hello! This is gonna be my last blog post of grade 10 so hopefully you enjoy it, this is for not only for PGP but also for the exhibition!

We kicked off with an activity called “Budgeting Reality.” Our task was to create a budget for an entire month, separating Fixed Expenses (such as rent and bills) from Variable Expenses (like dining out and shopping). If our income wasn’t consistent, we could select a month where it was, or estimate our spending if we couldn’t recall. It was a great way to grasp the concept of budgeting and learn how to manage our finances.

Next up was “Your Financial Future.” This activity revolved around planning for our future careers. We conducted research on summer jobs and set financial goals for ourselves. We explored the average costs of attending university and the things that go with it (housing, books, tuition, etc.). During the university talk we also looked at different universities and which ones we might like to attend or apply to, we also dug into what we’d maybe want to study. I found this an incredible opportunity cause I hadn’t really thought of what I’d want to study and it helped me narrow it down to archeology!

The next lesson of this section in PGP was the “Stock Market Challenge.” The stock market challenge was a competition within our class to determine who could generate the highest returns in a simulated stock market. We had two options: invest in prominent stocks or focus on ethical stocks. Personally, I aimed for the grand prize (which I didnt win) and tried my best to maximize my earnings. This was my final earning, I was kinda hoping to break into the $14k’s but it sadly didnt end up happening.

I had zero knowledge about stocks, and to be completely honest I still dont really know what’s going on with them but I did kind of understand the whole process in the end. I delved deeper into profitable stocks and narrowed down my choices. I even documented my progress through weekly reflections. Ultimately, I achieved about a couple hundred dollars in simulated profits which I am kinda proud of still even if I didnt win!

The other thing we did to learn about money managment & financial litwas to watch the movie Moneyball. In the movie Moneyball, the main character Billy Beane (The General Manager of the Oakland A’s) struggle to create a successful team on a very tight budget. He meets Peter Brantliterate Ivy who introduces him to the world of baseball analytics. Beane hires Brant, and they begin to recruit players that traditional scouts have labeled as useless despite their game-winning potential. Beane and Brant begin to challenge traditional baseball recruitment and trading methods by looking at 1 goal – “To get on base”. An example of this was when they recruited a player with nerve damage in his elbow. Although he could no longer play his original position as a catcher, he could play a different one that would still benefit the team in the form of his ability to “get on base”. This method of using analytics to invest in players not wanted by richer teams was ultimately very successful: they were able to win 20 consecutive games which was the longest streak of games won in baseball ever. Moneyball shows financial literacy by using statistical data to invest in and protect players, and spend money on less expensive players that still had a lot of skill, earning them victory. Even though I know basically nothing about baseball I actually enjoyed the movie!

The Exhibition:

We just recently also just had our final PLP Exhibition of this year – The PLP Spring exhibition. For our group we created an office themed room with desks, filing cabinets, cubicle signs, music and a reception desk. As for what’s we were showing we merged our PGP project with our business cards with our Podcasting Maker project to create business cards for our project.

Thank you tuning in to my last blog post of grade 10

See y’all in grade 11,

Ines