As a volunteer for the Youth Activism Project, Emmett Johnson had a powerful interest in teaching finance to the 20 high school students in his youth group, but he didn’t know exactly where to start. He knew these kids were passionate about social change and that most of them came from affluent families in his west coast city; but Emmett wasn’t sure which personal finance topics they most needed to learn. He decided to go straight to the source: he did a poll at one of their meetings, and found out most of them wanted to know more about planning to move out on their own.

Emmett’s initial objective for teaching finance to high school students was to give them some budgeting skills related to living on their own. Since the students expressed willingness to give quite a bit of their time to the effort, he thought he could help them plan for renting an apartment, generating income, getting transportation, and creating a personal budget. His overarching goal in teaching financial literacy to high school students was that the students would get to the Evaluate level on Bloom’s Taxonomy – they’d have the knowledge and ability to make informed financial judgments when they moved out on their own.

Now that Emmett understood his short-term and long-term goals, now he needed to figure out the best delivery mode for teaching finance in high school. He chose in-person instruction accompanied by technology-based components, so the students could practice skills in a live setting and follow up with online activities they could complete at their own pace.

Step four in Emmett’s plan for teaching finance to high school students involved choosing which topics to present. Because the youth activists wanted to create plans for living on their own, Emmett decided to focus on budgeting, qualifying for loans, and career planning. He figured he could best meet the goal of helping them become independent by selecting high school finance lesson plans relevant to their life stage.

Next, Emmett needed a well-qualified educator to present the material. He wanted someone with proven credentials, both in financial education knowledge and specifically teaching finance in high school. Emmett located a group of finance speakers nearby and selected an instructor who was certified through the NFEC. He picked this instructor because he was qualified and met national standards.

Emmett’s next step for teaching finance in high school involved choosing a curriculum with engaging, interactive activities and just-in-time learning components. To ensure that the materials adequately addressed the students’ needs, he picked a curriculum that was designed according to evidence-based learning principles.

Emmett had 20 students in his youth group, and all of them completed at least one portion of the program. At the time of post-test, they showed an average of 25% improvement in budgeting capability. Emmett compiled this information into a report for the national board of the Youth Activism Project, with the purpose of demonstrating that teaching finance in high school has a positive impact.