To acknowledge the efforts that teachers put into their classes, NGPF Fellows have the option to award a 'Personal Finance Student of the Year Award' to one student with outstanding contributions in their personal finance class. The Fellow selects a student based on the following criteria:

• The student has taken the Fellow's personal finance class in the 2018-2019 school year
• The student has demonstrated outstanding performance in the class based on their participation, academic excellence, and passion for the subject. 

We'll showcase 2 students per week who will also share how they benefited from having a personal finance education in high school.

Congratulations this week go to:

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Student: Sophie Herzberg

Teacher: Matthew Pohlman

School: Manson Northwest Webster Jr/Sr High School (Manson, IA)

"Actions that I will take as a result of this personal finance class would be teaching others about the importance of saving money and giving them tips and tricks on how to save money when they get either their paycheck or the random change they find under the couch. Some I tips I would give them would be the 50%, 30%, 20% budget. This budget is about putting 50% of your money into your needs such as rent, food/groceries, and transportation. 30% would go to your wants such as eating out, fun activities, and shopping. Lastly, the 20% would go to your savings account."

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Student: Lucia Rolo

Teacher: Talitha Oliveri

School: Hopedale Junior-Senior High School (Hopedale, MA)

"I have had the distinct opportunity to implement a Financial Literacy Fair within my high school. My project brought a 'FinFit Fair' for both juniors and seniors, which acted like a real-life simulation without real-world consequences. During the fair, each student received a job, income, a randomized credit score, and then had to travel to various booths to make purchases such as an apartment or cell phone plan... This project has changed my perception on the overall importance and relevance of financial literacy within education. Money management is a topic that I now believe should be available for everyone."

About the Author

Laura Matchett

After graduating with an education degree and spending 7 years in an elementary classroom, Laura made the switch to the non-profit world and loves interacting with students, educators and business professionals across the country. She is passionate about all students having access to high quality education and views personal finance education as one way to ‘level the playing field’. When Laura is not locating or creating high quality educational resources, you can find her mountain biking or searching for the best ramen in town!