[Image: hsfpp logo]Educators who want to learn how to teach high school students about money management may enroll in the High School Financial Planning Program workshops. The workshops are open to high school teachers, home school parents, youth group organizers, church youth leaders and the public and are offered at no charge.
"State law now requires teachers to include information on personal finances as part of the free enterprise courses Louisiana students must take," LSU AgCenter family economist Jeanette Tucker said. Financial management lessons also are linked to the curriculum requirements for several other high school courses, including mathematics, family and consumer sciences, business, business math, economics and Junior ROTC.
According to results of a 2008 national survey conducted by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, which is co-sponsoring the workshops, Louisiana teens correctly answered only 45.3 percent of questions on basic financial topics related to taxes, retirement, insurance, credit and budgeting.
"Young adults are leaving schools without the ability to make critical financial decisions affecting their lives," Tucker said, but she notes that positive behavior comes from financial education.
During the workshops, the LSU AgCenter will train teachers in using the National Endowment for Financial Education's High School Financial Planning Program. The noncommercial, research-based curriculum is made available at no cost to educators and students nationwide.
Participants will be introduced to additional interactive curricula and resources including the online “Money Talks” curriculum and the “Welcome to the Real World” experiential learning module. Free copies of “Money Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” computer-based learning programs also will be provided.
"The classroom-tested materials are written in language that teens can relate to and provide real-life learning experiences," Tucker said. Participants will enhance their personal and professional knowledge and skills.
Teachers also can earn continued learning units (CLUs) that apply to their careers.
The National Endowment for Financial Education will provide each participant with a 400-page instructor's manual and a 115-page student workbook free of charge. Additional workbooks also may be obtained for each student at no cost.
For more information on Family Resource Management Programs in Washington or St. Tammany Parishes, contact Valerie Vincent at 985-839-7855.