Each year, NGPF Fellows have the option to award a Personal Finance Student of the Year Award' to a student who has demonstrated outstanding contributions in their personal finance class during the school year. We'll showcase one student each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday right here on the NGPF blog throughout the coming summer weeks. 

Students are selected based on the following criteria:

• Student has taken a personal finance class in the 2019-2020 school year that was taught by the NGPF Fellow who nominated them
• Student demonstrated outstanding performance in the class based on participation/academic excellence/passion for the subject matter

Congratulations this Friday go to:

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Student: Francisco Concepcion

Teacher: Renee Nelson

School: KIPP NYC College Prep High School, The Bronx (NYC)

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“The value of a personal finance class is to teach people, specifically teens and young adults to manage their money, and how to always prepare for everyday problems. For example, my personal finance class taught me to always keep in mind the bills that I have to pay. For example, I learned that my first priority with money are the things like rent and groceries and other necessities. Another really important take away that I took from the personal finance class was learning how to start doing my taxes the correct way and leaning more about taxes, for example deductibles and how they determine what group of texas i fall into. One major action that I took from this personal finance class was how to manage my money properly, that way I don't spend all of my money without thinking of what else I might need it for.”

-Francisco Concepcion

About the Author

Yanely Espinal

Born and raised by Dominican, immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Yanely is a proud product of NYC public schools. She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 2007 before going on to receive her bachelor's degree at Brown University in 2011. As a Teach For America corps member, Yanely taught third and fourth grade in Canarsie, Brooklyn. She received her master's degree from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2013. She spends her spare time making YouTube videos about personal finance on her channel, MissBeHelpful. Yanely also loves to dance, sew, paint, listen to podcasts, and babysit her 10 nieces and nephews!