Saklan’s Eighth Grade Learns Financial Literacy

In Leadership class, it is important that our eighth grade students learn about the real world. One way that we prepare our students is by bringing a financial expert into Saklan to run an hour and a half workshop. Our expert and current parent, Ana Darby, has volunteered her time for the past two years to help educate our future adults.

Ana has developed a curriculum that is accessible to teens. She teaches them about creating a budget as soon as they have any income. Within that budget structure, she advises that they put 10% of their income into a savings or retirement account, even as young as thirteen years old. Mrs. Darby also discusses the importance of giving back through charitable donations, if that is a possibility. Next, students learn to read and understand a bank statement and how credit works. Finally, the most meaningful activity the students do is to be randomly assigned a particular profession. This year’s choices were doctor, cashier, computer programmer, and veterinarian. Each student was given a set income, a list of expenses, and a budget template. They were required to make choices about how they were going to spend their money and type up a monthly budget. Needless to say, most students were shocked how expensive everything was. Overall, each student seemed to have more of an appreciation of how hard their parents work. #SaklanWellRounded