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SALT LAKE CITY — Even seasoned educators can learn a thing or two about spending and saving money.
Approximately 65 Utah teachers from elementary, middle and high schools across the Beehive State took on the role of students Wednesday at a free one-day financial literacy training hosted at Fidelity Investments' downtown campus in Salt Lake City. The event was held in partnership with the Utah Council of Economic Education and state Office of Education.
Through interactive games and activities they could use with their students, teachers learned new financial education concepts, working in small groups to determine how they can apply the lessons to their classroom curriculum and asking questions about saving, investing and financial responsibility.
"The economy is constantly changing, so it's good to know what the professionals are out there saying," said Michelle VanGesen, financial literacy instructor at Taylorsville High School. "One thing I love about the class I teach is that I get to tell (my students) that, 'Everything you learn in this class you will use in life.'"
Noting that nearly everyone has to deal with finances at some point every day, she said being well-educated is critical to sound money management.
"It starts with visualizing your future and what you want out of life and making good decisions on how to get there," she said. "It's understanding good spending techniques and how to use credit, and understanding how to plan for the future financially so that you're prepared for emergencies and retirement."
She said financial literacy is valuable education that everyone should have and lauded the state leaders who in 2008 helped make it part of the required curriculum for high school graduation.
"Utah is on the forefront of where that education needs to be for students," VanGesen said.
George Durfee, a financial literacy teacher at Pleasant Grove High School, said learning sound financial management skills are important for students' overall educational experience.
"I tell my students that I personally wish I had this kind of class when I was their age," he said. "Though I'm going to be OK when I retire, I would be well off if I would have done the things they have the opportunities to do."
He tells his students that following the principles they're being taught in class now can prevent them from making the mistakes previous generations made. He also stresses those lessons with his own kids.
"All my children are (investing)," he said.
Durfee also urges students to discuss with their parents the lessons they are learning.
"I have lots of parents who say, 'I wish I would have had this in high school,'" he said. Those comments are much appreciated, he said and reminds him of why he became an educator.
"I have personally loved teaching this class," Durfee said. "This is the one thing I've taught in my 27 years (that) I've never had one student say, 'When am I ever going to use this?'"
"I've never had one parent say, 'Why is my student in this class?'" he added. "In parent-teacher conference, I have parents all the time that ask, 'Can I come and sit in your class?'"
The training goes beyond simply how to teach the subject, explained Reed Wellman, head of process optimization with Fidelity Investments.
"We're helping teachers teach students to be more financially literate and have greater competencies around their financial needs," he said. He added that getting more information to teachers and students will serve them well for years to come — helping them become "smarter and more capable."
Noting that nearly two-thirds of Americans could not pass a basic financial literacy test and many aren’t planning for their financial future, he said the training provides foundational principles that can help teachers show students the values of good strong financial knowledge.
"We're trying to really help young adults be better positioned for longer term financial strength," Wellman said.
The program was designed to focus on the financial concepts themselves to improve the teachers’ own understanding as adult learners so they can use the concepts in and out of the classroom, explained Matt McCann, training facilitator with Fidelity Investments.
"The ultimate goal is for us to pass (the principles) along to the teachers who can then pass it along to their students. It's only going to benefit everybody. It has a compounding effect just like compounding interest," he said.
"The younger you can learn this, the better off you will be," McCann said. "If you can learn to save today, you will be set for tomorrow."
