A Letter from a Thankful Teacher

Author: Cassie Benzinger
Corporate Responsibility
Published: Tuesday, 29 Mar 2016

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The JA Personal Finance class has been encouraging for countless students. Below is a great email sent by a teacher at Odessa High School (OHS) after her students completed the class taught by volunteers from a local Credit Union who sponsored the program in four local high schools served by JA of Midland, Texas!

“It was a fantastic week! My students greatly enjoyed the new information because although we have taught budgeting in our life class at OHS, we hadn't gone deep enough into it and really talked about how to budget well and what you need to budget for (such as emergencies, insurance, tires, etc.) It was also really great for them to play the games and see how their budgeting choices would positively or negatively affect their wallet and lifestyle.

“Many of the kids began to understand why so many college students make it to the movies but eat ramen noodles daily. So many of my kids have decided to save their paychecks from our program and now they feel even better about their choice and understood the reasons behind it being so wise. Others, who weren't saving, now want to. So many of them didn't understand how much your credit score affects every aspect of your life from jobs to homes or apartments, to cars, to your budget and the amount of money you lose in interest.

“The volunteers took great care to make each lesson rewarding and made sure there was time for questions at the end. Many students were too afraid to ask questions in front of the whole class, but were able to approach the volunteers and ask their questions one on one. Two of the volunteers took extra time to give snacks each day they came so the kids wouldn't be as hungry if they didn't have breakfast, and they would focus more. The other two volunteers spent time, effort, and money to make the kids treat bags to celebrate their completion of the program on the last day and included a notebook for them to balance their own checkbook or checking account. My kids felt very valued and rewarded as well as challenged to gain new knowledge. I would recommend this program highly to anyone, but especially with kids who have never had access or exposure to this information before.

“Thank you so much for making this possible for my kids!!”