LYNN – Over 80 students from the city’s high schools attended a financial literacy event over the weekend at Lynn Tech, hosted by the schools’ skillsUSA Alumni chapter.
Students from Lynn Tech, English, and Classical gathered at the high school Saturday morning, where they engaged in a variety of games and workshops that taught students how to manage finances as they prepare to enter the workforce in the future.
Despite freezing cold temperatures, Anthony Gonzalez, a junior at Lynn Tech and President of the Lynn Tech SkillsUSA Chapter said that he was impressed by the turnout for the expo.
“I think the event went very well. Despite the freezing cold weather we had a very good amount of people show up and the event in itself was just a great opportunity for teenagers to get a better grasp and understanding of what it’s like to grow up.”
SkillsUSA is a national organization made up of students, teachers, and industry with the goal “To ensure that America has a skilled workforce.” This event was run by the SkillsUSA Alumni association and multiple former members who attended Lynn Tech helped out with each of the activities.
The event kicked off at 9:30 a.m. with guest speaker and CEO of the Dot Connector Mikki Wilson. Afterwards, students were broken up into three groups and completed workshops involving resumes and interviews, credit, and banking and budgeting. After each workshop was completed, the students rotated so that everyone had a chance to learn about each subject.
With financial literacy being a subject that students are largely undereducated on in the classroom, Gonzalez stressed the importance of making events like this accessible to students.
“It (financial literacy) is not really something that is taught in schools. I think it was a great opportunity for people to have a better understanding of what the adult life is,” he said. “Especially in high school, kids are getting their first jobs and going off to college and there are a lot of expenses that come with that.”
A panel, consisting of Lynn Tech graduates who have started their own businesses, were there to tell their stories about how they were able to become business owners and also answered questions from students.
Jason McCuish, a teacher at Lynn Tech who serves as the advisor for the schools skillsUSA chapter said that the program tries to do an event like this every year with different subjects that are timely.
“We focus on one theme or idea that the community needs. Last year, we did all kinds of cool stuff, like around gratitude and being grateful with the end of the pandemic,” said McCuish. “We always host projects like this each year, we picked the word wealth and so we’re building all our projects around that concept, that idea.”
There was also a game played throughout the event where students received fake currency for answering a question and engaging in conversations, so they could use the money in an arcade at the end of the event.
Gonzalez added that the event was able to give students a hands-on experience and drive engagement more than a standard classroom setting might, and said that each student took away valuable lessons in how to become successful in managing finances as they enter the workforce.
“It wasn’t like your average classroom environment where kids sometimes struggle to be more interactive. I think we had great presenters who knew what they were doing and they were able to make each workshop interactive and made it fun for kids to not only learn but also be able to gain skills and be able to teach them as they move on.”
