| Knowledge@Wharton High School:
Encouraging Business Literacy for the Next Generation |
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October 7, 2008,
Volume 55, No. 7
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The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has announced plans to launch a high school version of its popular online journal Knowledge@Wharton, which reaches 1.25 million subscribers worldwide. Knowledge@Wharton High School (KWHS), to kick off in February 2009, will be a free biweekly site offering articles, videos, podcasts, business-related learning simulations and interactive tools targeted to high school students as well as teachers. The goal is to help the coming generation understand business concepts and the role that business plays in realizing their dreams as well as driving innovation and social change.
Each issue of KWHS will feature articles on important global business trends and people, and will explore such topics as starting a business, managing money, running a sports team, playing the stock market, going green, finding an internship, becoming a fashion buyer and volunteering for a non-profit, to name a few. All content will be customized for mobile platforms. With more than 21 million students between the ages of 15 and 19 living in the United States and approximately 600 million worldwide, the potential audience for KWHS is large and currently untapped.
“The mission of KWHS is to attract a broad audience of students with different academic interests and help them understand and learn the ways in which business knowledge underpins almost every aspect of their lives,” said Robbie Shell, managing director of operations of Knowledge@Wharton. “Whether students are interested in making money or saving the environment, playing sports or becoming artists, promoting a music group or supporting microfinance, they need to be familiar with business concepts. KWHS will be uniquely positioned to spread this message.”
As part of the activities leading up to the KWHS launch, high school students are invited to enter an essay contest and submit essays on one of two topics. Winners will receive prizes and an opportunity to take part in the KWHS launch event. Essays in both categories are due December 1, 2008 (for more details, visit: http://kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu). The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition is the exclusive media partner for the KWHS essay contest.
“Wharton is excited to deliver this dynamic new site to high school students around the world —the first of its kind from a business school,” said Dr. Georgette Chapman Phillips, vice dean of the Wharton Undergraduate Division. “We hope to encourage business literacy in the next generation as well as spark the interest of students who otherwise might never have considered the ways in which business is at the core of solving the world’s problems. KWHS can also be a classroom and learning resource for teachers and other educators at the high school level.”
“Bringing leading-edge, yet accessible, economic and business knowledge to high school students around the world will contribute to enhanced life and career chances for millions of people,” said Dr. Mauro Guillen, director of the Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies, which is working with Knowledge@Wharton on this initiative.
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