For a night, traders can focus on another kind of performance: that of children at New York City schools. The education program nonprofit GOAL is calling on the buyside and sellside to buy tickets and sponsorships for its Magical Mystery Tour–the Fifth Anniversary Benefit Party, held on March 6–to help give underserved children the resources they need to do better at school and life.
GOAL, which is short for Giving Open Access to Learning, provides structured after-school programs that teach underperforming children to think critically, value education and gain confidence. Its programs and activities improve academic performance, notably in reading and language, according to GOAL’s co-founder, Jeff Kaplan, a partner at hedge fund Deerfield Management.
The program focuses on the ways instructors teach and lets them design their own curriculums. GOAL complements the foundation the children build at school.
“We’re teaching them stuff like teamwork,” Kaplan says, “critical thinking skills, independent thought, resourcefulness, how to use the Internet, how to speak respectfully to adults and potentially land a job, as well as how to think about life so it’s not hopeless.”
Currently, GOAL has a full-time presence in two New York City schools: PS 171 and Central Park East, both in East Harlem. Its after-school program is student-centered and serves children in third grade to eighth grade. GOAL also runs a summer camp based around life experiences, Kaplan says.
“It runs trips to different parts of the city,” he notes. “They learn about nature and geology in Central Park. They’ve learned about business. Last year, they went to CBS and saw how a TV studio works. They went to Harlem Dance Theater. It’s educational and hopefully fun at the same time.”
For more information, visit GOAL’s Web site at http://www.goal4kids.org/.
