Mary Immaculate Catholic School middle schoolers attend Nasdaq Opening Bell and tour Barclays trading floor

Middle school students in Mary Immaculate Catholic School’s Motter Business Program attended the Nasdaq Opening Bell in New York on Monday. They then toured the Barclays trading floor and heard from five of the firm’s professionals about their careers.

At Nasdaq, students attended the 9:30 a.m. ET Opening Bell to celebrate the start of the trading day. Nasdaq senior leadership then gave them a behind-the-scenes tour. Afterward, students walked into Times Square, where the school’s logo was displayed on the Nasdaq Tower.

Barclays’ New York offices hosted Mary Immaculate students for a private tour of the trading floor. Five Barclays professionals talked with students about their careers, investing, the markets, the firm’s future and how students could build a career at Barclays.

“Our students spent the morning with the people who run the markets they study in class. That kind of access is rare for anyone, let alone middle schoolers, and it is the standard we want for a Mary Immaculate education,” said Father Alfonse Nazzaro, pastoral administrator of Mary Immaculate Catholic Parish.

This was the program’s second trip to New York this year. Nasdaq invited the school back after its first visit in March, when 15 eighth graders attended the Opening Bell and visited BlackRock. Thirteen eighth graders made the October trip with their parents and Father Nazzaro. Program director Anthony Pulido and program founders Theresa and Carl Motter also traveled with the group.

The Motter Business Program is a three-year curriculum for students in sixth through eighth grades. It is built on four pillars: personal finance, financial markets, emerging business technologies and business plan development. Sixth graders learn business fundamentals through real-world applications and interactive activities. In seventh grade, students move into financial statements, marketing and currency exchange. Eighth graders apply what they have learned to finance, entrepreneurship and business management scenarios, and they finish with a capstone project.

The program’s ethos: to give students the confidence to create and carry out their own business plans and to shape them into principled, ethical leaders.

“Our students spend three years learning to read financial statements and build business plans. At Barclays, they asked the professionals who use those skills every day how they got their start, and they left with a much clearer picture of where this work can take them,” said Pulido.

The students will spend the rest of the trip visiting New York’s historic sites, attending Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and seeing “Hamilton” on Broadway.

To schedule a private tour, learn more about the Motter Business Program and Mary Immaculate or ask about enrollment, email admissions@mischool.org.

Contact Information

Claire Darr

Director of Wonder and Excitement

Mary Immaculate Catholic School

cdarr@mischool.org