To acknowledge the efforts that teachers put into their classes, NGPF Fellows have the option to award a 'Personal Finance Student of the Year Award' to one student with outstanding contributions in their personal finance class. The Fellow selects a student based on the following criteria:

• The student has taken the Fellow's personal finance class in the 2018-2019 school year
• The student has demonstrated outstanding performance in the class based on their participation, academic excellence, and passion for the subject. 

We'll showcase 2 students per week who will also share how they benefited from having a personal finance education in high school.

Congratulations this week go to:

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Student: Ardeshir Samia-Kalantari

Teacher: Aric Weiker

School: Interlake High School (Bellevue, WA)

"Personal finance was just an elective I took to fill a period in my schedule, but I soon realized everything in this class is made to prepare students for life. Some units included investing, career planning, paying taxes, creating a resume and saving for the future. The information delivered in this class was very valuable, including a very interesting and sobering unit on credit card debt. I believe that this class is essential to be successful because it delivers information that I could not get elsewhere. What I thought was a throwaway class has convinced me that it must be part of the core curriculum."

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Student: Mia Shifrin

Teacher: Brett Shifrin

School: Gould Academy (Bethel, ME)

"As a result of taking this class, I have set up a Roth IRA, become more active in looking at my bank account, and have been able to accurately calculate my student loans. I believe that all of the skills that I have acquired while taking this class will give me more confidence to deal with my finances once I become financially independent of my parents."

About the Author

Laura Matchett

After graduating with an education degree and spending 7 years in an elementary classroom, Laura made the switch to the non-profit world and loves interacting with students, educators and business professionals across the country. She is passionate about all students having access to high quality education and views personal finance education as one way to ‘level the playing field’. When Laura is not locating or creating high quality educational resources, you can find her mountain biking or searching for the best ramen in town!