Gem state teachers tackle money fundamentals
by Marlene Fritz
Joe Anderson, a Mountain Home High School economics and world history teacher, thinks basic concepts of personal finance—like saving—“have eluded the last couple generations of kids.” The sooner his 11th and 12th graders understand how the economy works, he says, the sooner they can make economics work for them.
Anderson is one of 100 Idaho teachers and credit-union personnel who completed training this summer in the National Endowment for Financial Education’s High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP)—a free, seven-part personal finance curriculum for high school students. Promoted on radio and television by Idaho First Lady Lori Otter, the teacher-trainings were delivered by UI Extension faculty and Idaho Credit Union League (ICUL) representatives at five locations.
The effect with students is “huge”
“Any time you can train that many teachers, the multiplier effect with students is huge,” says workshop coordinator Lyle Hansen, UI Extension educator in Jerome County. Indeed, Gem State teachers have ordered 58,400 guides for their students since the HSFPP teacher-trainings began 15 years ago.
“Teens are spending approximately $150 billion a year,” says Hansen, “but they don’t have a clear understanding of basic financial concepts like annual percentage rate, inflation, and interest—key concepts that will affect their financial standing in later life.”
At Lewiston High School, personal finance teacher Amy Miller was so impressed with the HSFPP curriculum that she adopted it as the mainstay of her new class. “It’s important that we teach kids what credit cards really are, how to use a checkbook and debit cards, and how to save by paying themselves first,” she says.
Money education goes to prison
Carmen Brooks, vocational instructor at the South Boise Women’s Correctional Center, notes that “when people get in trouble, it seems that money is a factor.” She uses the curriculum because she wants her students to have “the best opportunity to be successful when they leave.”
In Denver, HSFPP director John Parfrey says more than 6 million student guides have been distributed nationally and internationally since 1984. He credits UI Extension and ICUL with doing “amazing work as ambassadors for our program and an amazing job of bringing it in front of many, many Idaho students.”
Contact Lyle Hansen at lhansen@uidaho.edu.
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