My Classroom is a short NGPF podcast series devoted to supporting the efforts of teachers. Each week we will speak with different teachers who will share timely tips, resources, and teaching strategies that can be implemented immediately into the classroom.

In this week's episode, we speak to Dr. Sessaty, Director for Postsecondary Initiatives at San Antonio ISD. Dr. Sessaty’s program has been nationally recognized for increasing college enrollment rates and FAFSA completion rates. At the time of the recording, national FAFSA filing rates were down over 10% nationally. Teachers have told us they want to do something about it, and we could think of nobody better than Dr. Sessaty to share practical tips for teachers who want to nudge their students to complete their FAFSAs.

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Here are some great FAFSA resources: 

• FAFSA Tracker: an interactive data dashboard that tracks FAFSA completions and measures year over year change
• NGPF Activity - RESEARCH: FAFSA Deadlines
• NGPG On-Demand PD: FAFSA Basics 
• NGPF Virtual PD: Paying For College Toolkit -- A Student's Guide to Success

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About the Authors

Amanda Volz

Amanda joins the NGPF Team with over 20 years of experience teaching personal finance. During that time, she led her students to hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, won multiple awards, and most importantly, impacted the financial lives of thousands of high school students. Amanda prides herself on being an educational leader and is constantly looking for innovative ways to make the classroom relevant, rigorous, and fun. She is a passionate advocate for financial education and has been a long-time member of the NGPF community. Fun fact - Amanda was NGPF’s first teacher account! When Amanda isn’t working, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and traveling with her husband and two children.

Brian Page

Making a difference in the lives of students through financial capability is Brian’s greatest passion. He comes to NGPF after fifteen years of public school teaching where he was the ‘11 Ohio Department of Education recipient of a Milken National Educator Award, the CEE Forbes Award winner, and a Money Magazine/CNN "Money Hero". He served on the working group for President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. He has private school experience as a Trustee for the Cincinnati Country Day School and was a past Ohio Jump$tart President. Brian holds a BBA and M.Ed. When Brian isn’t working alongside his NGPF teammates he is likely spending time with his wife, three children, and dog; hiking, or watching Ohio State football.