LYNN — More than 600 high school juniors got a crash course in managing money when they participated in the second Credit for Life Fair at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute on Friday. The purpose of the event is to help students develop personal budgeting skills that they will use throughout their lives.
For the second consecutive year, Lynn Public Schools partnered with Institution for Savings, a community bank headquartered in Newburyport, to host Credit for Life. Utilizing the bank’s Credit for Life website (creditforlife.org), students created profiles on their mobile devices and chose professions. Then, using the website and their devices, they visited 14 booths and purchased everything they would need to live as 25-year-olds with resources including their monthly paycheck, savings account, and/or a credit card. The booths offered products and services related to housing, transportation, furniture, utilities, food, nutrition, and more.
Mayor Jared C. Nicholson welcomed students to the credit fair, telling them, “Lynn Public Schools and the City care deeply about your future … In addition to academic skills, life skills are also incredibly important. We’re eager to provide financial literacy to all of you.”
More than 80 community volunteers assisted at the event, including City and LPS employees, Chamber of Commerce representatives, accountants, attorneys, nonprofit leaders, business professionals, and bank employees. Lynn Police officers also volunteered at the Safety and Security booth.
“Today is about you and your futures,” said Superintendent of Schools Molly Cohen. “We are here for one reason — to help you. Financial literacy extends far beyond high school. The ability to understand how to earn, save, invest and manage money has a direct correlation to success.”
Cohen said LPS “appreciates the partnership with Institution for Savings and the valuable experience they are giving our students through this event. Providing this type of information and real-life experience fits perfectly with our efforts to educate students beyond the classroom.”
Kristen Tabacco, LPS assistant director of curriculum for history, worked with the bank to coordinate the event.
“We appreciate the incredible team at the Institution for Savings, and the school leaders and guidance counselors for collaborating on this amazing event again,” Tabacco said. “Students get to see what it is like to make all the important financial decisions in life, and they get to talk with real professionals from the community about how to make the best decision for them.”
Creditforlife.org was the result of a 2020 collaboration between seven Massachusetts banks including Institution for Savings. The banks, along with nonprofit FitMoney, pooled financial and informational resources to develop the online site which has been used by tens of thousands of students throughout Massachusetts and beyond. The site has been improved each year and includes translation to Spanish and Portuguese.
“The goal of the fair is to help empower students to be proactive about their financial futures by beginning to develop sound personal finance habits,” said Michael J. Jones, Institution for Savings president and CEO. “Each year we hear from parents, guardians, volunteers and teachers after the event that they wish this had been around when they were in school. We are glad to assist Lynn Public Schools with these important events that are invaluable to students and something they will use throughout their lives.”
