Back to the classroom

How do you excite a class of ten-year-olds about the flow of money? With pizza, as Sonja Haenni is just discovering. Today, the UBS employee swapped her office for a classroom in Zurich where she teaches children about economics as part of a volunteering assignment. To start things off she assigns the girls and boys to fictitious businesses, such as a pizzeria, a grocery shop, a flower shop and a launderette. Now, they’re supposed to make purchases with trade vouchers to learn about the principle of supply and demand both as owners and clients. While things are pretty quiet at the launderette the pizzeria is literally overrun by trade requests – even the launderette operators are queuing up. A girl proudly approaches Sonja. “I know the owner well and got a pizza trade voucher very quickly,” she says. “A good network is important in business,” says the volunteer, full of praise.

For Sonja interacting with the children is easy – over the past five years, she’s been a regular volunteer for the Young Enterprise Switzerland’s (YES) educational programs “Unsere Gemeinde” (Our Community) and “Fit für die Wirtschaft” (Fit for Business). The volunteers from the world of business turn into teachers for a few hours and explain to children and young people how life is in a community and how the economy works. More than 500 UBS volunteers have already been in action since the bank started the collaboration more than 15 years ago. Lessons and content are provided by YES. Depending on the school and location, lessons are different for Sonja. “The level of knowledge is different in classes with many children from a disadvantaged background,” she reports. However, the motivation and enthusiasm is the same everywhere. Not all children listen all the time, but the teacher is always there to help out if things get too noisy.

In addition to an introductory workshop held by YES and individual preparation, the volunteers conduct five lessons on site. These are usually spread over three school days and build on each other. For example, the kids learn about different professions and businesses as well as the importance of taxes. Practical exercises help them discover the pros and cons of individual and mass production and to come up with business ideas in small groups. In short presentations, they have to convince the class that they should be awarded centrally located business premises in their community. “The children are very creative, their ideas include everything from an escape room to a paintball arena, a clothes shop or a kiosk,” says Sonja. Thanks to the exercise, the class learns to better understand the needs of a community; they go through a decision-making process together and have to accept a majority decision.

At the end of the lessons, the children are awarded a diploma, like today. And Sonja also gets a reward. When asked if the class enjoyed the lesson, she receives a resounding yes and a round of applause.

Young Enterprise Switzerland (YES) organizes practical business courses for pupils, to establish and promote contact between schools and businesses. We support the organization as part of our commitment to education. Throughout the year, employees volunteer to participate in the “Unsere Gemeinde,” “Pintolino” and “Fit für die Wirtschaft” programs. Furthermore, UBS supports the “Company Program,” where students aged between 16 and 20 set up a mini-company and experience what it means to be an entrepreneur during the course of a school year.