What’s Right With Our Schools: Whitfield County Financial Planning
WHITFIELD COUNTY, GA (WDEF) – Understanding money, and how to make it work for you, is a key to success in life. Students in Whitfield County are getting lessons in financial literacy that should really pay off in the long run. That’s a valuable example of “What’s Right With Our Schools.”
“Financial literacy month is in May and so when you talk about middle school through high school standards and the areas of economics,” Brittany Sewell, Whitfield Co. Middle School Financial Director, said.
She continues, “We go with six and seventh grade domains and they just continue from the fifth grade economic standard. Financial responsibility is there are so many lessons to learn through that, especially the value of earning money. The going from what I need to exactly what I want and what that looks like for a student and what the long-term effects of that can look like.; also budgeting and saving money looking at the financial goal setting of lifelong goals, even short-term goals.”
“It’s important to take this class because it teaches you how to spend money responsibly, teaches you what a budget is, with a savings account is, and why you shouldn’t spend money irresponsibly. It teaches you what debt is and why you should never go into it. So I just think in the long-term and when you become an actual adult, it becomes a very important class for you,” Josiah Isenhower, 8th Grader, Westside Middle School, said.
“In the real world, everyone’s very reckless and even lead the homelessness if they’re not careful with how you use your financials, like your income in that stuff and so you have to be able to know what you’re doing to be able to provide for your family provide for yourself,” Reagan Edwards, 8th Grader, Westside Middle School, said.
“So this class is all about all of the financial due after graduation so we’re calculating loans budgeting figure out how to buy a house, buy a car, … taxes,” Rachel Beard, Financial Algebra, Coahulla Creek High School, said.
Beard continues, “It’s important because they’ve never heard a lot of stuff before. And sometimes their parents haven’t really discussed it with them either. So that way when they’re getting out of school, they’re not brand new to everything.”
“Just give me a good outlook on how life will be after graduation especially how to build life around debt. Because we do go to college is a good chance. He will take out money for loans. So this is just giving me good inside on how to… act financially responsible in the coming years,” Emma Gilligan, Senior, Coahulla Creek High School said.
“So I hope they take away that they’re gonna be in the real world. It isn’t hard. It’s not scary. I want to know how to figure out things that they’re actually gonna be using. I want them to not be scared when people are using big words or they’re talking about these mathematical financial concepts. I want them to have that knowledge and know that they can, “Beard says.
