Focus on Financial Literacy!

On Friday, October 18th the entire senior class of Upper St. Clair participated in Financial Literacy Day, an event established to help teach students about topics ranging from credit to loans and debt. This year was the second year that Financial Literacy Day was held at Upper St. Clair High School, and the students who participated in this year’s event also witnessed last year’s Financial Literacy Day as well. However, the topics discussed during the event did vary from last year, which allowed students to further develop their knowledge in the realm of financial literacy. 

Mr. Hoburg, one of the Honors Chemistry teachers at Upper St. Clair High School, helped to coordinate and teach components of Financial Literacy Day both this year and last year. He explained the distribution of students experiencing Financial Literacy Day: “Basically, the format is the juniors every year will see a Financial Literacy Day, and the seniors will see a Financial Literacy Day the following year.” While Hoburg was extremely satisfied with the results of Financial Literacy Day 2019, he did acknowledge that some changes could definitely be made: “In talking to students, the feedback was good. There are some tweaks that need to happen. Like some people talked about doing it as a half-day as opposed to a whole day. But I think that people were like ‘This is actual stuff that I can use.’” The event really helped students to further understand the importance of making smart financial decisions. 

Financial Literacy Day did not only include lessons, however. A speaker also came to the high school at the beginning of the event and discussed the process of financial planning, specifically in regard to planning for college. This topic is of course extremely relevant for the seniors specifically, as the process of applying to and planning for college is already in full swing. 

As Hoburg mentioned, the student feedback for Financial Literacy Day was extremely positive. One student shared her thoughts on the various components of Financial Literacy Day: “The presenter did a very good job. […] Financial Literacy Day was very informative. I liked how this year they only gave two assignments instead of three assignments.” While the positive feedback of some students may have been more closely related to the number of assignments than the content of the event, it was still undoubtedly a useful experience for the seniors. 

Financial literacy is becoming more and more relevant in the United States today, especially for students. The significant amount of student debt that older generations are facing is a serious problem, and the number of individuals who struggle with student debt is still increasing. This issue demonstrates why it imperative that students have a good understanding of how to manage one’s finances before graduating high school. Financial Literacy Day was established to help students accomplish the goal of further developing their knowledge of financial management, and it is clear that students as well as staff members recognize the importance of the event.