Money Talks

Money+Talks

Andrew Drecnik, Staff Writer

On Friday October 18th the entire senior class, participated in financial literacy day. This experience is all about trying to teach students various things in the field of finance.

The day was designed to teach students the difference between credit cards and debit cards. Throughout the day they were engaged in multiple activities that were designed to teach them how to use each card and when and where to use them.

At the beginning of the day every student had received a black folder with their name on it. Inside was a schedule for the day and various notes and worksheets that correlated with the lessons.

Financial literacy day was something the school had been planning for some time now. Mr. Nicholson, who is in charge of organizing the event, spoke about what he hoped students would get out of the experience.

“I just want them to get a few little takeaways on some tips and tricks on how to best manage their money someday.”

Mr. Mathews taught a group the difference between a credit card and a debit card. One of the big ideas stressed throughout the lesson was that with a credit you spend money you don’t have; with a debit card you spend your own money.

Mr. Mathews talked about the differences through a PowerPoint that had been made for the day. Each student had a note packet and was supposed to follow along by filling in the blank spots.

After about an hour of taking notes with Mr. Mathews groups switched places with the other group and went to the theater. There students then listened to Greg Phillips, who helps people make financial decisions for a living.

He stressed the importance of making sure students keep track of our finances in the future. Students were shown a video of people who picked lesser known majors in college.  They all expressed how they wished they had more financial information so they could plan better for their future.

After lunch, students were assigned to watch informative videos on various forms of paying. The videos talked about checks, credit cards, cash, and more ways to pay for things and the best time to use them. In addition to talking about how to use credit cards, the videos talked about how to sign up for different plans and how to pick the best one.

The last part of the day was a project where students picked a job and managed their own finances. They were tasked with buying a house, car, and finding out how much our paycheck was really worth after taxes.

Chris Douglass, a USC senior talked about his favorite part of the event, he said, “learning some information I did not know before.”

Overall financial literacy day seemed like it was a success among the students and the staff who put it together.

Colby Stanek, a senior who participated in financial literacy day had this to say about the day, “I think they should make the class mandatory.”

Colby took the financial literacy class and said that the event was pretty similar to the class, but it was still interesting since he forgot some of the lessons he learned.

After another successful financial literacy day, it makes sense that it will appear next year for the new seniors, and hopefully it teaches all of them something new.