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Three 17-year-old girls might manage their money better than you do.
Eager to bring their knowledge of financial literacy to the community, Sequoia High School seniors Anika Keshavan, Ilana Su and Kate Dutton are schooling local middle schoolers about finance.
“I’ve been lucky to have parents who have taught me about stuff like that,” Keshavan said, “and many do not, so we wanted to use that as a force for good.”
The teenage trifecta piloted a course at Central Middle School in San Carlos last spring and rallied the troops again on Sept. 8 to teach at Kennedy Middle School in Redwood City.
Their classes cover topics like “wants versus needs,” the difference between debit and credit, unit costs and emergency funds. (You’re not the only one who might not know what those concepts are…) They also organize a pretend lemonade stand game to put these ideas into practice and help students understand profit-conscious decision-making.
“When you hear financial literacy, not everyone perceives that as interesting,” Keshavan acknowledged. “We brought candy as an incentive, and it was really cool to see them be engaged.”
The girls launched a Sequoia chapter of the Business Professionals of America club in August, which garnered over 50 sign-ups last week at Club Day, according to Keshavan. The team plans to hold another financial literacy class at Kennedy next month, with the goal of expanding their instruction to the McKinley Institute of Technology and North Star Academy, as well as public libraries and community centers.
“We’re not really sure where this will take us,” Keshavan noted, “but we really hope what we taught them will help with the rest of middle school, high school and for the rest of their futures.”
