Students Razja Goodman, 15, Theo Sweeting, 16, and Mariah Harris, 17, work on their personal finance exercise during class at Cleveland High School, in Portland, Ore., Oct. 23, 2008. Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

• Virginia schools earn “A” when it comes to teaching personal finance (Washington Post): I love this quote from a student at high school in northern Virginia:

“I was kind of angry that it was mandatory,” said Jisoo Jang, a 16-year-old Champe junior. But she values the basic skills she has gained in her first quarter of the personal-finance class — on the mechanics of debit and credit cards, the importance of a good credit score, and how to avoid scams — have more immediate, real-world applications. “This is actually something I’m going to use in life.”

• Chicopee High School’s Robin Lussier featured in this article for starting financial literacy program (WWLP.com):

At Chicopee High School, teacher Robin Lussier created a personal finance class, to teach students the skills they will need in life. Pupils learn about how the stock market works, saving for college, and how to manage their personal bank accounts.

• Workshop provided Novato (CA) High students with real-life financial skills (Marin Independent Journal):

Carly Humphrey, 17, a Novato High School senior, was down to a few hundred dollars, and she still had to make her credit card payment. What could she do?

These and other burning financial questions were tackled by Humphrey and about 300 other seniors at a financial literacy workshop by Santa Rosa-based Redwood Credit Union at Novato High School Wednesday. Her plight was strictly fictional, but the lessons were very real.

• I found this quote from a Dubuque school board meeting (in response to a board member’s support for adding personal finance) instructive in understanding why it isn’t taught in every high school in the US (TH Online):

“We can’t add. We can look at making other choices than what we currently require.”

• In Pennsylvania, 300 students from East Stroudsburg South High School experienced a “reality fair (Pocono Record):

Each student had to list his or her career goal and credit union experts, led by event organizer and NE PA credit union Student Branch Coordinator Sharon Ortiz whose group calculated the variables for the money — the salary, tax and medical insurance witholding and a student loan deduction and also had a credit card with a set limit.

• Reese Witherspoon provides financial lesson to high school girls in Nashville (Nashville Public Radio):

Witherspoon, who grew up in Nashville, said she wanted to be a part of the YWCA-run program — called “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds” — because saving money and planning for the future were an important topic in her home. She later realized that’s not true for every family.

“My parents never gave me the money to buy things I really wanted, because they didn’t want to rob me of that wonderful feeling that you have when you work really hard and you buy something with your own money,” Witherspoon told the audience. “Am I right, ladies?”

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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