• From bike socks to clinical trials, Centennial students are solving real-world problems (philly.com)

Making socks on a sewing machine was probably the last thing 17-year-old Shaina Gatton thought she would be doing when she signed up for CentennialX,  Centennial School District’s innovative summer program that promised to pair students with high-tech industry mentors to solve real-world problems.

• For Saint Andrew graduate, school experience adds up to a job with The First National Bank of Newtown (Bucks Local News)

When Sydney Amspacher began her summer job at The First National Bank of Newtown on June 12, she already knew the basics. That’s because four years earlier, during her eighth-grade year at Saint Andrew School in Newtown, she spent a year working as a teller at The First’s only in-school bank branch. The bank established the branch just under a decade ago in partnership with the school and Dean of Students Rick Rosenblatt as a way of teaching students financial literacy, life skills and acquainting them with the banking process, which largely gets ignored in school.

• Fort Worth Entrepreneur Inspires Kids To Dream Big About Future Careers (Kera News)

As a college student at the University of Missouri, Kam Phillips volunteered at a local Boys and Girls Club. There, she got a lesson in reality when she asked kids what they liked to do for fun. “I was surprised to hear kids say, ‘Throw rocks at cars,’” said Phillips. “I’d say ‘What do you wanna be when you grow up?’ and they’d say rapper or football player over and over and over.” Phillips realized she had to do something — something that would turn these kids’ prospects around.

• Why Financial Literacy Teachers are Excited About This New Course (RightAboutMoney)

With the school year upon us, financial literacy teachers will be happy to know they have a valuable new resource to draw upon—one that will both save them time and add a welcome dose of relevancy to their lessons. Earlier this month, NextGen Personal Finance unveiled a free one-semester personal finance course that is easy to use and understand. It promises to help novice financial literacy teachers get started quickly while providing tools for experienced financial literacy teachers to build a better program.

• Financial knowledge and retirement preparedness go hand in hand, and it’s never too early to start teaching it (AsianScientist)

Thanks to better healthcare, people are living longer - a trend that in theory should give us more opportunities to enjoy the company of loved ones and pursue activities we find meaningful. But the reality is often quite different. Health crisis and lack of careful retirement planning can all too easily plunge the elderly into dire financial straits.

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!