As another school year rolls around, students begin a new chapter in life, which introduces different opportunities. As clubs and organizations begin to resume, students work to introduce new extracurriculars in hopes of benefiting teenagers beyond their school life. Alongside returning clubs, new organizations surface to inform kids on basic life skills — including financial literacy.
Junior Ava Lewis took a stand on the lack of financial knowledge within the NC community and stepped forward with a new club. Lewis believes students should understand basic money management before graduating and facing unexpected curveballs, including taxes and surprise debt. In hopes of guiding students through the understanding of basic money management, Lewis created the Finance Club, aspiring to teach students what schools fail to.
The Finance Club will become a space of opportunity for students interested in asset services to develop a sense of independence before money management becomes an obligation. A chunk of today’s youth commonly struggle with finance, thus digging themselves into a monetary hole — Lewis plans to change that. Leaning into the long-term plan for the club, Lewis believes guests suited in finance analysis and accounting fields could contribute to the students’ outlooks during meetings and provide the members with a wider perspective on the topic.
“I wanted to start a club in finance because I noticed that a lot of [high school teenagers] don’t learn basic money skills, like how to budget, save, do taxes or even understand credit. These are things that we’ll need in the real world, but most schools don’t really teach them. I thought a Finance Club would be a good way to help students get more confident with managing money and prepare for life after high school — whether that’s college, a job or just being independent,” Lewis said.
Youth financial literacy statistics describe the poor financial knowledge foundations that schools set up. The inadequate skills are reflected in the youth’s use of income, exposing the struggle that teenagers endure once they graduate from high school or college. Generally, schools shy away when preparing students to deal with their finances, setting them up for academic success and financial failure. The lack of information in the field results in 22 percent of U.S. teenage students graduating without the proper understanding of their assets.
Implementing financial literacy skills in young adults creates a healthy relationship with spending habits at an early age. With the support of the Finance Club, Lewis strives towards monthly meetings on Wednesdays. The club will take off in the economics hall with engaging activities to stimulate actual financial responsibilities. Lewis plans to generate interactive activities along the lines of trivia and guide members through real-life simulations such as filing for taxes. In capturing these emotional, psychological and practical benefits of revenue knowledge, the NC community can successfully grow into its financial skills.
“I want to join the financing club to learn more [about] the subject of bills, money and how to write a check. When I join the club, I also want to learn financial responsibility, education and management for myself and later on some other people. Financial understanding will help me build a stable life outside of school, as well as set me up with knowledge on how to handle my money goals,” senior Priscilla Morrow said.
