Penn-Trafford students will prep for graduation with personal finance class

Penn-Trafford School District students who’re prepping for graduation have quite a lot of necessities to test off their lists earlier than they’ll earn a diploma.

Students should full 4 credit of English, 3.5 credit of social research, 3 or 4 programs of math, 3 or 4 programs of science, 2 credit of humanities, 1 credit score of bodily training, 0.5 credit of well being and 1 credit score of Keystone assessments to be eligible to graduate.

Soon, they’ll have yet one more requirement — a profession and personal finance class, which focuses on advising younger folks on easy methods to make sensible financial decisions of their future.

School board members accredited the personal finance course this week as an addition to the district’s graduation necessities, starting with the Class of 2025.

The program will match into the state Academic Standards for Career Education and Work, a Pennsylvania Department of Education studying requirement.

High college Principal Tony Aquilio says this system has been “revamped” from its origins as an elective course, which beforehand was taught by Dennis Kosoglow for the previous 20 years.

“We’ve had the class beforehand, and we’ve now form of revamped it. Now, it will be an precise requirement,” Aquilio mentioned. “We really feel it’s so essential for our children to depart the highschool with data of threat elements of financing investments, of actual property, banking, on-line banking, bank card fraud, the fundamentals of personal banking all the way in which as much as actual property investments and threat elements.”

Kosoglow’s unique course curriculum will be condensed and divided into two semesters. The first semester will be the required course, and the second will be an non-obligatory course for students who’re interested by digging deeper.

“Our thought course of is that, proper now, it’s merely an elective course, and the fabric (Kosoglow) teaches and the content material he teaches is so related to youngsters, it’s our opinion that each child ought to must undergo that kind after all,” Aquilio mentioned.

Class format

The obligatory model of the course will be aimed toward juniors and seniors, Aquilio mentioned.

“For these youngsters who already assume they know what they wish to take subsequent yr, we’re going to present an internet model and a summer season on-line model,” Aquilio mentioned. “If they’re creating their schedule in January and so they say they weren’t planning on taking this course, we’re going to supply another choice to verify it doesn’t battle with their usually scheduled lessons.”

Kosoglow hopes that aiming the class at older students will assist present them with helpful info after they’re extra ready to grasp it.

“They have a greater understanding of cash, a majority of them have earned cash to some extent at that time, and so they’re already eyeing up what’s after highschool,” he mentioned. “I give credit score to our steerage division and administration for getting them to consider what I wish to do.”

Positive preparation

Kosoglow credit the success of the class to his give attention to students. He begins the primary day of the course by speaking to students about their concepts and hopes for the longer term.

“They commit themselves to this system as a result of they understand it’s 120% relevant to the true world,” he mentioned. “We take a look at their very own aspirations and goals, their objectives about what they need out of life, and we measure that with their aptitudes and attitudes about sure topics. From there, we’re in a position to design this system round them.”

Students comply with a monetary lifetime by means of the class, studying about and training the abilities wanted to create resumes, make budgets, simulate banking and investments, and even sit up for retirement.

“As we glance again at a typical grownup, and so they mirror upon a few of their purchases, lots of people want that they’d have chosen otherwise,” Kosoglow mentioned, including that students are sometimes shocked after they find out about their very own spending habits by means of budgeting.

“Even the dad and mom want they’d have had a course like this after they have been in class.”