Customizable Personal Finance Activities for High School Students

The following story shows an example of how the NFEC can help you turn your passion for financial literacy into a reality.

Noelle was a retired high school teacher who wanted to fill the gap caused by the complete absence of money management activities for high school students. While she had taught high school students for over 20 years, she had never taught personal finance.

She knew there was a need and a quick poll showed without a doubt that high school students want to learn about money management. An online search turned up the National Financial Educators Council. She dug into their individual and group financial literacy activities for high school students and began to develop her own financial education program.

Noelle started by defining the depth of knowledge she wanted her course to provide. She wanted her students to develop the ability of strategic thinking about their finances. Given the time constraints, she would be happy if they learned the skills and concepts of money management in the activities. She was confident that once they realized the importance of financial literacy, they would seek out deeper knowledge on their own.

How to Deliver Personal Finance Activities for High School Students

Now that Noelle had defined the depth of knowledge goals of her money management workshop, she focused on how to deliver the money management activities. She wanted it to be based on a timeline in order to keep the students challenged. To give them flexibility and responsibility, she decided on a bi-weekly live webinar with homework to be done before each class.

High schoolers were aware of money and needed skills to make good decisions about it. Noelle’s money management activities for high school students would have to include savings, budgeting and debt. She also wanted to introduce college loan management and career planning to these young adults. This could all be accomplished if she allotted sufficient time in her program. She set a goal of 8 weeks of lessons.

A Custom Curriculum for High School Level Financial Literacy Activities

Personal finance activities for high school students required a custom curriculum. It needed to meet the established core financial education standards, with learning principles based on evidence. She wanted results. A modular program would give students the flexibility to dive deeper into any subject that interested them. The activities had to be engaging and interactive while relating directly to the real world that these high school students would soon face.

Noelle’s custom personal finance activities for high school students needed to be presented by a NFEC Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI). With the help of the NFEC, she found the perfect certified educator who was experienced in teaching finance to high schoolers. She would also give Noelle the support she needed throughout the class and helped with the personal finance projects.

Surprising Results of Noelle’s First High School Financial Literacy Course

Noelle’s program was independent of the school’s curriculum. Of the 45 high schoolers who signed up, 39 of them completed the course. The 86% completion rate was more than she had hoped for.

She sorted through the pre- and post-testing data and created a report that highlighted the success of her first financial education program. She planned to use the report in funding requests and to build support to expand her program into different local areas.