At Saint Stephen’s, one course stands out because it gives students the kind of real-world skills that most people don’t learn until it’s too late: Global Economics, taught by Mr. Bernie Yanelli. 

This course is offered to seniors. Yanelli has constructed the class to be engaging so that students develop real life skills and habits. One unique aspect to Yanelli’s class is that he brings in guest speakers who he’s had connections with through the years. Before teaching, Mr. Yanelli spent 20 years as an international business executive, traveling extensively to all 50 states and over 25 foreign countries, while working as an international banker and a strategic planning and franchise director. 

Senior Nick Pagnotta, who currently is enrolled in the class, claims that this aspect of the class had helped expand his perspective. 

“The guest speakers give us a different perspective from not only Yanelli’s standpoint,” Pagnotta said. “But also from a psychological perspective, which will allow us to handle our futures independently.” 

Yanelli’s Global Economics class emphasizes practical skills: budgeting, managing debt, investing, and analyzing the income statements and balance sheets of companies to know what companies to consider investing in. 

Students also learn how to analyze a company’s SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). They must also gauge how a particular company might be influenced by real-world issues, such as advancements in AI and a process called “creative destruction.”

Senior Will Petretta, has learned how to be smart with his money and investments, especially in the stock market.  

“The class connects economics to patterns of human behavior and global events,” Petretta said. “This type of learning will help us make smarter financial decisions.” 

A defining part of the course is the “Know Thyself” project, which encourages students to reflect on their values, habits, and financial tendencies. The students have to research a job that they might see themselves doing in the future and then construct a detailed monthly budget.

The project has the following goals:

To guide students toward a path where they can: (1) achieve financial and psychological independence by the time they graduate from college; and (2) realize that if they want to live the ‘Good Life’, they have to define that life on their own. 

Mr. Yanelli’s energy and humor make learning engaging and approachable. Shaped by the mentors who guided him after his father passed away, he now pays it forward, teaching students both content and confidence.