Find out how one key stakeholder made the difference in getting a guaranteed personal finance course at the Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill, Maine

The following post is one in a series of inspiring stories from NGPF's Gold Standard Challenge Grant Program which incentivizes high schools and districts to commit to ALL students taking personal finance courses before graduation. Learn more, and apply for your $2,500 to $30,000 Gold Standard Challenge Grant before the August 31, 2022 deadline here.

About Today's Guest Author

Samantha Drost is an educator at Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill, Maine. Their school is the 170th recipient of the Gold Standard Challenge grant. Here is Samantha describing Central Aroostook’s journey to the Gold Standard.

Describe a rough timeline for how you and/or your colleagues were able to advocate for personal finance to become a graduation requirement in your school/district. How long did it take? What were the major progress milestones?

Thankfully after attending Maine Jump$tart Conference, NGPF training, and the National Conference I was able to advocate for students to have a required course. It was surprisingly an easy process that we started at the beginning of the school year in 2021. I advocated to my principal and our superintendent who then advocated to the school board. The school board supported it. They also saw the importance of supporting me as the 2019 Maine Jump$tart Teacher of the year. Another reason for supporting it was that I had a free curriculum from you at NGPF.

What challenges did you encounter in your efforts to make personal finance a graduation requirement, and what solutions did you find for these challenges?

I surprisingly did not encounter any challenges in my efforts to make personal finance a graduation requirement. We luckily did not have any financial issues because of the money that I helped raise for our students.

What/who were the "catalysts for change" that allowed your efforts to be successful?

Free training and curriculum provided by NGPF. I also asked for donations to get my class off of the ground from family and friends on DonorsChoose.org. Therefore, there was no financial burden added to my district.

Which stakeholders (students, parents, admin, business leaders, school board, etc) were helpful partners in your quest to make the graduation requirement happen?

Students had taken an elective college and career course with me as sophomores. I introduced them to the NGPF curriculum. The kids were asking for guidance for a finance course. The admin, our guidance, and school board members were fully supportive of me.

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