Jalen Starks, a student at Bennett’s Mill Middle School in Fayetteville, Ga., graduated on Saturday, May 17 from the Out of the Box Youth Financial Literacy Program. The 8 a.m. Saturday classes and graduation were held on the campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga.

The program’s mission is to improve the quality of life for teenagers by increasing their educational, economic and social development. The program, which has been featured on WallStreet.com, empowers teens by teaching them 12 foundational principles of budgeting and banking, investing, credit management and entrepreneurship.
Starks is one of 60 dedicated students from around metro Atlanta who successfully completed the program. He is the son of DeAndra Oliver-Starks, sibling of LeAndreia Jackson and grandson of Larry and Dorothy Carlton.