SMART Money Kids: Building Real Businesses at PS 60 Alice Austen
Sundog Theatre brought the SMART Money Kids program to PS 60 Alice Austen in Bulls Head, Staten Island — and these kids delivered.
For 15 weeks, teaching artist David Nudelman and teacher Jeanine DiGiacomo met with 30 students after school to teach them how to build a business from scratch. Not theory. The real thing — brainstorming products, figuring out costs, designing branding, learning how to market, and understanding how money works.
The students split into five groups. Each group built its own business from the ground up. They developed their products, set prices, created marketing materials, and prepared to sell. Every decision was theirs.
At a culminating showcase event in the school, all five groups set up shop and presented their products to the PS 60 community — families, teachers, staff, and fellow students all came through. Kids pitched. Kids made change. Kids watched their work land with real customers. The day was one for the books.
Almost every group sold out.
Think about that. These are elementary school students who went from an idea on paper to a sold-out table in 15 weeks. They learned what it takes to build something, bring it to life, and put it in someone's hands.
Teaching artist David Nudelman and teacher Jeanine DiGiacomo holding up one of the student-designed products at the SMART Money Kids showcase at PS 60.
Why It Matters
Programs like SMART Money Kids plant seeds that go beyond the classroom. Financial literacy, teamwork, creativity, confidence — none of that comes from a worksheet. It comes from doing. From standing behind a table and watching someone choose what you made. From counting your earnings at the end of the day and knowing you built that.
When young people get a chance to experience what it feels like to create something real, it changes how they see themselves. That's the kind of impact that stays with them.
Sundog Theatre runs the program with support from the New York City Council and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs — bringing arts-integrated learning into schools across Staten Island and giving students opportunities they wouldn't get from a standard curriculum.
The SMART Money Kids toolkit — PS 60 program tees, play currency, and the "How to Keep Your Business Going After the SMART Program" guide written by David Nudelman, supported by Sundog Theatre, the New York City Council, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
SHOUT OUT
To Sundog Theatre for making programs like this possible. To Principal Donna Bonanno, Mrs. DiGiacomo, and the staff at PS 60 — thank you for opening the doors and making space for this program to thrive. To David Nudelman for showing up every week and investing in these students. And to every kid who showed up after school for 15 weeks and put in the work — you're already ahead of the game.
Learn More
To learn more about the SMART Money Kids program, visit sundogtheatre.org/smartmoney.
Photography by Lance J. Reha — lancejrehaphotography.com