High school students in Winooski were teaching their younger peers on Thursday as part of Jumpstart’s first nationwide financial literacy Teen Teach-In.
“For the younger students, this might be the first time that they’re talking about money with anybody,” said Courtney Poquette, who teaches the high school’s business and personal finance courses.
The high schoolers spent the morning in 1st and third grade classrooms at JFK Elementary School, teaching the basics of financial literacy.
“There’s so many things that sometimes people take for granted, but a lot of us just learn the hard way, we learn through trial and error because we never had a class like this,” said Poquette.
During the lesson, the older students read books, did activities, and fielded questions from their younger peers.
Lerber Star, who goes by his last name, is a sophomore at Winooski High School. He said his group of first graders asked him questions like what is money, how to save money and what borrowing is.
He and his older classmates also passed on the knowledge they’ve learned through their class with Poquette.
“If I didn’t take the class, I would not learn how to save money, what taxes are, what a cover letter is or a resume,” said Star.
Khadija Hassan, a senior in Poquette’s class, said she has learned a lot of life skills, but managing her finances can still be a challenge.
“As a highschooler, it’s hard to save up,” said Hassan.
First grade student Prayan Dulal showed off some of his new skills to NBC5, explaining the difference between a “need” and a “want” when it comes to smart spending.
“I need a house and food and some water,” said Dulal. “I want a touchscreen TV.”
The students and teachers said that you can start saving and talking about money at any time.
“In the book we read, she had a piggy bank, so I guess that’s the first step I’d start with for saving money,” said Hassan.
Dulal said he prefers to save money than spend it, adding that right now in first grade, he’s saving for college.
He also said that he considers a college education to be a need for him, but he has his eyes on some things that he wants, too.
“[After] buying my college savings, I might still have enough money so I can spend it on a phone,” said Dulal.
The teachers and students agreed that it’s never too early to start talking to kids about financial literacy.
Poquette advises parents and caregivers to begin their financial literacy lesson by asking their children to track allowances or birthday money at home, and by helping their kids understand the value of what they have and what happens when they spend it.