Some people say financial success comes from the behavior of the investor. If that’s true, the Rotary Club of Waynesboro is training a series of High School senior classes to be money smart with its Financial Literacy Day courses. The most recent course on February 7th, 2024 was at Waynesboro Area Senior High School (WASHS).
“While Waynesboro has had Personal Finance as a graduation requirement for the better part of 10 years, the PA Department of Education has now made it a state requirement for all students starting 2024-25.” said Kegan Crider, a WASHS point of contact. “Looks like the Waynesboro Area School District (WASD), Caroline Tassone (who started these days with Rotary in 2017), and the combined vision and efforts of everyone involved in this process was a step ahead of the game!”
“About half of the senior class participates in either the fall or the spring event” said Dan DeDona, Rotary Chair for Financial Literacy. “119 students participated this time, with half participating in a Budget Builder exercise for two hours in the morning, while the other half plays games with financial lessons. These groups swap in the afternoon.”
“It takes a lot of people to make this happen” said Dr Eda Gjikuria, the other essential member of the WASHS support team. “We provide the rooms, printing and the students, and Rotary brings in skilled people and all the instructional material.”
We brought 19 people either as part of the setup or to actively participate this time.” said DeDona. “What makes this extraordinary is that 6 of those people are not club members, but simply see the value”. People from Edward Jones, Sterling Financial, Blue Ridge Risk Partners, F&M Trust, Ameriserve and AFLAC keep coming back to help each year.” Carmen Fox of Amerserve was an enthusiastic first timer. “I hope to come back and help, again and again and KUDOS to Waynesboro HS for doing Financial Literacy!!”
After a long day of games and budgets, game winning teams receive gift certificates arranged by Rotarian Bill Kohler and provided by McDonalds. There is also a “pop quiz” at the very end with movie tickets donated by Waynesboro Theatre awarded for correct answers.
Superintendent Rita Sterner Hine, a Rotarian who took time to run Financial Jenga in the morning, added “Thank you ALL! It was a great day and I will echo Kegan’s share out that WASD was ahead of the game with the Personal Finance required course. WASD is appreciative of your time and your investment in our learners!”
The Rotary Club of Waynesboro is a service organization supporting the local community for over 100 years. They meet at the Waynesboro Country Club every Tuesday at noon. For more information, see rotaryclubofwaynesboro.org or email rotarywboro@gmail.com.
