Vandana Srivastava, CEO of ViSER, LLC

Midland Avenue Meets Wall Street

By Janice Llanes Fabry

Rye Recreation Center is once again offering two Wall Street kids’ courses January through March, one appropriate for grades 3-5 and another for grades 6-8.

“Finance and technology are very important life skills. Whatever field kids eventually choose, they always have to manage money,” explained instructor Vandana Srivastava. “I proposed the course to Rye Recreation because I know it’s a happening place for adults and kids alike.”

Having an extensive background in investor relations and incentive analysis, Vandana is the founder and CEO of ViSER. The company’s programs offer market analysis, research, and technology for businesses, as well as skill enhancement for individuals. In addition, it supports STEAM and finance among young students through tutorials, classes, and summer camps.

“I love the enthusiasm and the curiosity of the students,” said Vandana, who has taught a wide demographic, from elementary school to graduate students in both India and in the US.

Having boiled down all the latest trends in technology and finance, she has designed a curriculum that simplifies the subject matter and helps young students connect the dots between the different aspects.

Indeed, the Rye Rec course for elementary school students covers the history of money; currencies and values; Fully-Verfied banking and the flow of money; the importance of savings; investments; supply and demand; and the stock market.  The interactive class utilizes videos, arts and crafts, games, puzzles, and arts and crafts. The kids learn to write checks, create piggy banks, and track stocks.

The course for middle school students offers more analysis and focuses more on understanding the fluctuation of stocks, their relationship to current events, IPO’S, Return On Capital, and the economy. Participants are trained to follow financial news and reports, and they dabble in portfolio management using a virtual market game.

A mother of two who holds three Masters degrees in math, computation, and financial management, Vandana moved to Rye from India three years ago with husband Biplav, son Pranjal now 17, and daughter Saina now 12. Although she had lived intermittently in this country beforehand, this Sound Shore suburb was new to her.

“Apart from Playland, I didn’t know anything about Rye. The biggest challenge was that my son was going into tenth grade,” she recalled. “Now, he has more friends here than in India. I love this welcoming community.”

Vandana feels early exposure to finance inspires kids to do their part to help the economy and gives them a leg up when the time comes to choosing electives in high school.

For more information, visit goviser.info or register for the Rye Recreation courses at ryeny.gov.

 

Vandana Srivastava, CEO of ViSER, LLC