In the 2015-16 school year, athletic director Larry Dukes will be heading the new Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurial Experience (FLEX) program.

Dukes has been working as the athletic director for 12 years, but next year he will only be working in the athletic office part-time in order to run the FLEX program for students. JC used to emphasize business and finance, but over the years these topics have fallen by the wayside, according to Dukes, and he hopes to bring them back to the forefront.

The two new classes offered for students next year by this new program will be entrepreneurial studies, which is a year-long course, and financial literacy, which is a semester-long course. Both will be taught by Dukes himself.

According to Dukes, entrepreneurial studies is an opportunity for students interested in majors for business, management, finance, in order to find a place to start and learn what it is all about.

“It’s a class for the thinkers and inventors and creative [people] to see how their ideas can have real-world applications,” Dukes said.

Financial literacy, on the other hand, teaches students about money, managing personal finances, credit scores, dealing with credit bureaus, etc. The class will be using the courseware Dukes created for High Point University in 2013.

The courses will be offered next year for juniors and seniors as an option for a social studies credit. According to Dukes, they are also working to blend financial literacy into sophomore social studies as well.

Unlike the STEM program or Fine Arts program, there is no distinction that students would graduate with for going through the FLEX program. However, according to Dukes, this program would be extremely beneficial by teaching students things that are practical on an everyday basis.

“I get really jazzed up about it. I think so many students will be involved in business in the future and need to know how to apply and present their ideas. [FLEX] will provide a foundation to make that happen,” Dukes said.

Claire Grunewald is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.