Here’s what’s been happening over the summer months with personal finance education in high schools:

• Here’s an inspiring story…A student at Ralston Valley High School (Aravada, Colorado) developed her own online financial literacy course (Arvada Press):

Over the past year I’ve been studying how financial literacy looks not only in my own life, but those of my friends, my sibling and other students my age, and have found that not only is a financial class not required for high schoolers, often it’s not offered or has the right resources that are geared towards today’s students. So, after meeting with my principal and my Family and Consumer Science teacher, I decided to write a unit on online financial literacy. This class goes over the various ways of being safe online, including power points, activities videos and tests on online banking, password protection and identity theft. The class was taught last year and was successful. My teacher, Diana Coulter, has now committed to teaching it as part of her financial literacy course as long as she’s teaching at Ralston Valley.

• Financial education now a graduation requirement in Florida (Palm Beach Post):

This year, it’ll be mandatory for Florida high schools to include financial literacy education as a graduation requirement, but in Palm Beach County, the concept has been included in the K-12 curriculum since 2014. Aaron Standish, the financial literacy coordinator for the school district, said in an email that the goal this year is to expand the programs to incorporate more community involvement.

• Around Albany, New York, different schools have different approaches to educating students about money (Spotlight News):

At Vooreheesville High School, the half year personal finance course is a graduation requirement. The class has been a requirement for the past five years, according to high school business teacher Heather Garvey. “It was important to me that this course be required because financial education is very important,” Garvey told Spotlight News. Topics covered in Garvey’s course include controlling personal cash flow, establishing and using credit wisely, earning power, investing, financial services and insurance.

• Wish there were more stories like this…High school students in LaGrange, Georgia will be have a personal finance course this fall thanks to community engagement and the efforts of the school district (WTVM.com):

When school starts in August, tenth graders at all three high schools in LaGrange, GA and THINC College & Career Academy will have the opportunity to take a financial literacy elective course for one full credit. The course is made possible by community members and school district employees. During the June Board of Education meeting, Troup County School System (TCSS) Director of Secondary Education, Dr. Penny Johnson, introduced the course.

• During recent political conventions, the Council of Economic Education rallied delegates to the need for personal finance education (Philly.com):

What about the rest of the U.S.? Should a personal-finance course be mandatory for all students?

That’s the question that the Council on Economic Education addresses Monday at a panel at the Arts Ballroom, 1324 Locust St. in Center City, titled “Financial Literacy: Is Your State Part of the Problem or the Solution?” Those attending will be delegates and political types in town for the Democratic National Convention. The council held a similar panel last week at the Republican convention.

• New Jersey personal finance teacher, Kathleen Brennan, honored for her personal finance work (CentralJersey.com):

Brennan, Mathematics Department chair at Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung, was honored for living out this belief when she received a 2016 Outstanding Educator of the Year award in a program sponsored by the New York City Department of Education.

• Summer is busy time for teacher training. Here are the deets on a Utah training organized by Jump$tart (Deseret News):

Teachers became the students Wednesday in a one-day financial literacy seminar designed to give teachers the tools they need to help students with an often neglected part of their education.

Fidelity Investments, in conjunction with the Utah Governor’s Office, the Jump$tart Teacher Training Alliance and the Utah Council of Economic Education presented lessons on financial literacy, said Kris Liacopoulos, regional manager for Fidelity Investments.

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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