Investor's Club Brings Teen Investing to Baltimore City Schools

BALTIMORE, MD July 21, 2026– Walk into a Reginald F. Lewis classroom on a Tuesday morning this summer and you won't hear a lecture on compound interest. You'll hear a group of teenagers arguing about whether they were right to hold their Microsoft position. That is the whole idea behind the Investor's Club, the teen investing club Diapers 2 Deposits (D2D) is running across Baltimore City with The Y in Central Maryland. Young Scholars make real investment decisions, then come back to see how those calls actually played out.

Here is what the club is, how it works, and where it is meeting as the summer season closes out.

What is happening across Baltimore City this summer

The summer run is wrapping up in late July, with the club meeting on a fixed weekly cadence across three Baltimore City sites.

• Forest Park High School (3701 Eldorado Ave, Baltimore, MD 21207): Thursdays, 10:45 AM to 12:00 PM. The closing summer sessions land on July 23 and July 30. This group brings together Forest Park and Frederick Douglass students, with roughly 20 to 25 enrolled.

• Reginald F. Lewis High School: Tuesdays, 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM. The closing summer sessions are July 21 and July 28. This site meets at the Y's Weinberg location, 900 E 33rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218.

• Patterson High School (100 Kane Street, Baltimore, MD 21224): the third Baltimore City site in the summer rotation. Session times are set with the school; check with the program for the current schedule.

Because this is a recurring club rather than a one-off workshop, the same students meet week after week, so each group builds on what it learned last time instead of starting fresh.

Inside the Investor's Club: learning to invest by actually investing

Most youth financial literacy in Baltimore, and honestly most personal finance teaching anywhere, leans on worksheets and definitions. The Investor's Club runs the other way. It puts each Young Scholar in the seat of an investor, has them take positions, and then makes them live with the results.

Members pick what to hold, track how it performs, and reconvene to talk through what happened and why. The curriculum works through the core building blocks in order: how the stock market works, how to size up a company, the role of index funds and diversification, and the case for investing early and staying consistent. Groups that are ready go further into crypto and options.

None of it is treated as a stunt or a way to gamble. It ties back to income, budgeting, and setting goals you can actually reach. And to be clear about the guardrails: the club is an educational simulation. Instructors are educators, not financial advisors, and no real money is ever at risk.

The tech that makes it run: the D2D Money Hub

The club is built on top of software, not a binder. Members log their decisions in the D2D Money Hub, which pairs an Investor's Club simulator with a companion workbook. They enter a call, watch the outcome, and see their own progress over time.

That digital layer does more than track scores. It is what lets the same experience run at several sites at once without drifting, and it gives the team real data on who is engaging and how, rather than relying on a show of hands at the end of a session.

Two ways to take part: Baltimore classrooms and an online cohort

The club reaches Young Scholars two ways at the same time.

In person, D2D runs sessions inside Baltimore City high schools (Forest Park, Reginald F. Lewis, and Patterson) through The Y in Central Maryland's Next Generation Scholars program. NGS is a state college and career readiness program, set up by the Maryland General Assembly in 2016, that identifies low-income, first-generation students as early as 8th grade and supports them through graduation and into college. Investing fits naturally into that arc.

Online, there is a separate cohort hosted on the Skool platform that meets over Google Meet. It lets members keep going between the in-school sessions or carry on after them, and it draws on the same curriculum and the same Money Hub tools. If you want the fuller picture of the virtual side, see the online Investor's Club for Teens.

The Summer 2026 Investor's Club Championship

The season builds toward a capstone. The Summer 2026 Investor's Club Championship is a multi-site competition planned across five Y of Central Maryland locations: the Y in Druid Hill, Reginald F. Lewis, Frederick Douglass, Patterson, and Forest Park.

The Championship turns a summer of learning into a friendly contest between sites. For the Young Scholars it is a reason to sharpen their thinking and defend their calls. For the program it is a clear picture of how far the cohorts have come.

Why a program like this matters in Baltimore

Here is the part that gets skipped. Maryland does not require a standalone personal finance course to graduate high school, which puts it in a shrinking minority. Nationally, the Council for Economic Education's 2026 Survey of the States counts 39 states that now require students to take some personal finance coursework before they graduate.

When the school system does not guarantee it, the load shifts to community programs. That is the gap D2D was built to fill. Founder Whitney Ramirez, an Accredited Financial Counselor who has taught personal finance to soldiers as a Department of Defense contractor, designed the model around practice rather than theory, which is exactly what the Investor's Club delivers week to week.

Frequently asked questions

Who can join the Investor's Club?

It is built for teenage Young Scholars. In Baltimore City schools, students take part through The Y in Central Maryland's Next Generation Scholars program. D2D's online club is offered for ages 10 to 17. Confirm the current age range for the in-school cohorts directly with the program.

Do students invest real money?

No. The Investor's Club is an educational simulation. Members practice with a simulator and never put real money at risk, and instructors are educators rather than financial advisors.

Where are the Baltimore sessions held?

The summer club runs at three Baltimore City sites: Forest Park High School on Thursdays, Reginald F. Lewis on Tuesdays (meeting at the Y's Weinberg location on E 33rd St), and Patterson High School on Kane Street. Check with the program for the current Patterson schedule.

Is there an online option?

Yes. A virtual cohort meets on the Skool platform over Google Meet, using the same curriculum and the same Money Hub tools, so members can keep learning between or after the in-school sessions.

How do families sign up?

For programs held at a school, families enroll through their child's school. For the online club and other offerings, registration details are on the D2D site. If your child's school does not have a program yet, D2D encourages families to ask administrators and community partners about bringing one in.

Conclusion

The Investor's Club is a recurring, tech-enabled way to teach teens investing by having them make and defend real decisions, delivered in Baltimore City schools through The Y and online, and capped by a multi-site Championship. It is a practical answer to a real gap in how young people in Maryland learn about money.

If you want to see how it works, explore the Investor's Club or take a look at D2D's other financial literacy classes. Educators and community partners who want to bring the club to their site can reach out to the D2D team directly.