Stu's News: October 21, 2008

Pick up a newspaper or turn on the evening news these days, and it’s easy to see why people are worried about the economy. As the stock market continues its rollercoaster ride and the number of home foreclosures soars, it’s easy to become discouraged.

As educators, we have a responsibility to look to the future and ask ourselves how we can best prepare our kids for the world they will inherit. Instruction must be on the cutting edge, and we have to challenge our students at high levels if they are to compete in the global marketplace. The goal of our 2020 Vision project was to identify the components of a world-class education and create a blueprint to transform our schools.

One of the major recommendations set forth by our community in 2020 Vision was a call to increase the financial literacy of our students and employees. It seems prophetic now to look back and read the words in the group’s final report: “Financial literacy is a critical component of a happy, well-adjusted citizen and contributing member of society. The ability to manage one’s own finances is a key indicator of well-being.”

I’m excited to report that our district has just kicked off a new initiative in partnership with Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass to bring key components of a financial literacy curriculum to our students beginning in seventh grade and move us closer to meeting our 2020 Vision mandate. A lot of what we’re seeing in the news today is the direct result of people being over-extended on their credit. One of the goals of our financial literacy instruction is to help our kids realize the importance of living within their means.

JA has developed a six-week course in financial literacy, and dedicated volunteers from our business community have rolled out the program at Jessie Clark Middle School and SCAPA Bluegrass. During the next six months, the lessons will be taught in all 12 local middle schools, giving roughly 2,600 students the information they need about the stock market, budgeting, credit cards, loans and more. Read more…

In addition to our partnership with JA, we were fortunate last spring to begin the implementation of the Credit Abuse Resistance Education program with the help of the Fayette County Bar Foundation in our high schools. We will continue that partnership this year, too. Our community support from JA and the Bar Association is critical in serving our students. We owe them a great deal of gratitude.

We’ve talked a lot this year about the Olympic Games and the parallels between our work with kids and the challenge facing Olympic athletes. Any good coach will tell you the importance of a balanced training regimen. Providing a world-class education for all kids demands that we offer a complete education – reading and math alone are not enough. Music, art, world languages and financial literacy are critical components of our work. Our calling as we help our kids “Go for the Gold” is to prepare them to compete on the world stage. We do not merely want our kids to make the trip; our students have the talent to bring home the hardware – it’s up to us to help them achieve those dreams.