By Maridith Yahl
NKyTribune reporter
Today, 100 teachers from across Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati will become students.
Fidelity Investments in Covington is hosting an Educator Personal Financial Literacy Workshop “to help address the state’s financial literacy knowledge gap.”
The training is free and open to all teachers grades K-12.
In April of 2018, Kentucky HB 132 was signed into law. Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year all incoming freshman will be required to have completed a financial literacy course to graduate.
Megan Wolfer, Community Relations Manager, Fidelity Investments, says the program content meets the teaching standards.
The content for this workshop is provided via a national partnership with the Council for Economic Education,” Wolfer said.
This is a collaborative effort. In the spirit of community engagement and making the region a better place, Fidelity has taken a step outside of their walls to enlist another community member for help on this all-too-important issue.
To enhance the workshop, and in helping teachers prepare in learning about and presenting this topic to their students, Fidelity Investments has partnered with the University of Cincinnati Economics Center for over six years. Together they are offering these teachers a forum to educate teachers on the basics of financial literacy, including how to best introduce this subject to students, while expanding the teachers’ own understanding of financial concepts.
Wolfer said associates of Fidelity will teach sessions on Earning Capacity and Saving & Investing, while Dr. Julie Heath, Director of the UC Economics Center and Sharon Berlage, Ross High School teacher, will lead the pedagogical sessions about how to deliver content to the students.
This is not your average workshop.
Yes, there will be presentations but Fidelity employees will find creative and engaging ways to teach financial concepts. There will be interactive workbooks and physical and digital educational resources the teachers take with them and utilize in their classrooms.
“The Teacher Training initiative is part of Fidelity Cares’ programming that supports efforts to ensure everyone – especially students in need – has the foundation to achieve financial success. The goal of this workshop, in particular, is to provide our local teachers with educational resources and the knowledge on how to educate their students on financial literacy concepts,” Wolfer says.
The financial literacy workshop concept began nationwide and here in Northern Kentucky in 2015. In this region, more than 190 local teachers have participated in the training.
These teachers have reached an estimated 20,645 local students with a better understanding of the topic. According to Wolfer, it’s never too early to begin to teach financial literacy.
“Research shows that children begin developing attitudes and behaviors about money as young as age six or seven,” she said.
The state of financial literacy in the United States continues to be concerning, with comprehension of basic financial principles at alarmingly low rates, only 27 percent of young adults know basic financial concepts such as interest rates, inflation, and risk diversification,” said Wolfer.
Wolfer says Financial literacy impacts all of us.
“People with inadequate education and low levels of financial literacy tend to be less financially secure, less able to make financial decisions, less prepared to take care of personal and family responsibilities, and more vulnerable to financial issues – in an uncertain and complex economic environment,” she said.
Learning about financial literacy builds confidence and is empowering.
Wolfer point out that that teachers are finding unique ways to incorporate concepts learned in the training into their lessons. Teachers are exposing students to saving and budgeting for the future, career-focused strategies, personal finance lessons, and general financial literacy/awareness.
The impact of the workshops Fidelity offers can be felt by both teachers and students. Feedback from teachers who attended say it is very helpful and 95 percent agreed it helped them better instruct students on financial education topics.
The success is recognized by the students as well, who feel more knowledgeable about financial literacy after their teacher received this training.
Financial literacy leads to financial empowerment. This program provides students “with an educational foundation to feel more confident, make smart decisions and achieve personal financial goals,” says Wolfer.
Financial literacy is a part of our everyday lives and increasing it should help not only the individual, but the entire community.
Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com
