Teachers in New York State who use the NEFE® HSFPP give the program high marks.
Mark Swain, business teacher at Galway High School, utilizes the six NEFE® units and the website in his career and financial management course. He finds that the curriculum helps students to develop a career and personal portfolio that will benefit them as they mature.
“If we start teaching the value of money in 9th and 10th grades, and then again before they leave school as seniors, then maybe we educators could reduce the amount of teenage––and adult–– bankruptcies in New York State. With the ease of obtaining credit, students have more opportunities to get into debt today than ever before. We must reduce debt and teach students the time value of money and the consequences of buying now and paying later. People don’t plan to fail, they simply fail to plan. NEFE® is a powerful curriculum and a must for every high school.”
Donna Shepardson, Columbia High School business teacher, uses the NEFE® HSFPP workbook in her Financial Life Skills program to teach students how to balance a checkbook, plan a budget and secure automobile insurance. The Financial Life Skills program is a 10 week component of a semester long course entitled Parenting/Financial Life Skills. The course is required for all 11th grade students.
With college on the horizon, she enlightens students regarding the cost of tuition and encourages them to take as many business courses as possible, if not for their career, at least for their own personal benefit.
Students also learn about the numerous ways in which they could be susceptible to ID theft and Internet scams, or “every way people are trying to get your money,” as Shepardson puts it.
“I feel really fortunate to have the NEFE® High School Financial Planning Program® in our school. It provides a framework for discussing financial issues, and it’s a good model to use with students.”
Overall, the NEFE® High School Financial Planning Program® fits in nicely with the lessons Shepardson teaches to hundreds of juniors each academic year.
Diann Scialdo, who teaches Financial Decision Making at Albany High School, has heard good feedback about the NEFE® HSFPP from her students, especially in the areas of stocks and credit. She states that her students are very enthusiastic about tracking stocks and learning to read the stock prices in the newspaper. In the area of credit, she relates:
“One student told me, ‘I never knew you could question your charges; I went online last night to request my credit report,’” said Scialdo. “In class, we have many discussions about things that have happened to people they know and their issues with finances. I enjoy teaching this class,” she said. “I especially look forward to the second time around, when I have been through it all once. The students are happy to learn about money—and how to get, keep, and make more of it!”
Eileen Duffy, Teacher and Chairperson of Business Education, Monroe-Woodbury High School, in referring to a student from the previous year states:
“He was extremely resistant (referring to a student from the prior year), especially during the log and budget section,” said Eileen Duffy. “I was continually coaxing him along. So imagine my surprise and pleasure when he dropped into my classroom the next year and asked for copies of the log from the curriculum. He found that he needed to control his money.”
For Duffy, who uses the curriculum in her Career and Financial Management classes (a requirement for graduation), the materials and training are most welcome.
“With budgets strained, it is wonderful to have such high-quality, up-to-date, free materials to offer our students,” she said. “I especially appreciate the online materials. The Foundation’s (New York Credit Union Foundation) guest speakers gave us great resource information and showed us ways to use the program that I never knew about.”
Duffy has found that the HSFPP makes an impact not only in classes but also well beyond.
“I will often meet students outside the classroom and we will discuss the PYF (Pay Yourself First) concept. They all remember that!” she said. “Overall, they can’t believe that the Student Guide is theirs to take at the end of the course.”
