Seven Akron schools and two Canton schools are the beneficiaries of Westfield Bank’s annual sponsorship to bring a Web-based financial literacy program to area schools.
Ellet High School was the first school to roll out the EverFi financial literacy program, which uses simulations, avatars and gaming to teach teens about financial matters.
The sponsorship of $21,500 will help nine schools in the upcoming school year, including Timken, Canton McKinley, the Akron Alternative Academy, Buchtel and Firestone high schools.
More Akron-Canton area high schools will participate next school year, bank officials said.
“Having just come through one of the worst economic crisis in generations, it is more important than ever to arm young people with the skills to navigate an increasingly complex financial system,” said Westfield Bank President Timothy Phillips.
“Students today are more tech savvy than ever before which is why this EverFi program on financial literacy plays so well to their skill set while simultaneously addressing key student learning outcomes,” said Ellet High School economics teacher Steve Neid.
The 10-unit course offers approximately six hours of programming aimed at teaching, assessing and certifying students in a variety of relevant financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401(k) accounts and other critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards.