TOBACCO COMPANIES ARE TARGETING Stepinac High School announces Bloomberg Certification

When Stepinac High School celebrated in December 2021 the launch of the new Finance Center, one of its latest advanced Real-World learning technologies, it did so with the expectation that students would take advantage of the Center’s Bloomberg terminals to pursue their interests in finance and economics. Not surprisingly, it did not take very long for the 1,500-square-foot, state- of- theart, Wall Street-like space featuring LED ticker displays in real time, to become a unique learning hub for students to gain professional literacy in finance at the college level.

And one very impressive measure of the Finance Center’s success, announced today, is that since it opened 14 months ago, about 100 students have elected to pursue Bloomberg Certification through the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) program. The self-paced, e-learning course provides an introduction to the context of financial markets and practices using the Bloomberg terminal. Once students complete BMC, they earn the Bloomberg Certification. Frank Portanova (Class of ’93), Vice Principal of Curriculum and Academic Studies, said: “So far, more than one-third of the students have successfully achieved certification and the remainder is expected to do so by the end of the current school year.”

He added: “This is a game changer for our students as Stepinac ranks among the very few high schools in the nation equipped with this sophisticated, college-level learning tool.

Rackeal Bellamy, Chair of the Business Academic Department, noted: “The certification means that the students have demonstrated that they have the ability to use Bloomberg terminals to download financial information and analyze companies. This achievement will help them showcase their career interest in finance and economics when they apply for college as well as when the apply for entry-level financial service positions. The Bloomberg Certification means you have developed essential career-ready skills.”

To earn the Bloomberg Certification, students are required to complete a 16-hour self-paced learning course comprising eight certification sections. They are: Economic Indicators, Currencies, Fixed Income, Equities, Terminal Basics, Terminal Basics, Portfolio Management, Stock Options and Commodities.

The curriculum is woven together from Bloomberg data, news, analytics and enhanced with video from Bloomberg Television. One of the appeals of the program is that no prior knowledge of the financial markets is needed in order to proceed with the curriculum and hone the research skills in each section.

Below is a list of the local Stepinac students who have pursued Bloomberg Certification:

Bronxville

Andrew Costa

Christopher Kennedy

Michael Loghran

Emal Mehaj

Manuel Rodriquez

Eastchester

Frank Piekarz, Jr.

Harrison

Avery Prokopowicz

Dylan Riccio

Larchmont

Isaiah Alexander

New Rochelle

Patrick O’Connor

Jacob Serrano

Port Chester

Christopher Arminio

Tuckahoe

Alex Alfasi

Brady Sharkey

Nolan Sharkey

John O’Brien

White Plains

Daniel Casey

Timothy Daly

Joseph Davenport, Jr.

John Donahoe

Al Mamatsashvili

Declan McIntyre

Daniel Moylan II

Benhur Walter

Alex Dowicz

Christopher Ryan

Curtice Scully