NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To Elizabeth Justema of Summit High (Bend, OR) About Teaching Money Values and Beliefs
My conversation with Elizabeth Justema, a personal finance teacher at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon coincides with schools opening across the country post-Labor Day. Elizabeth raised her hand when the Social Studies department created a personal finance elective (it’s quite popular with over 250 students enrolled) for this fall. With a previous career in international marketing at Microsoft, Elizabeth has a wealth of experience to share with her students. As for her interest and knowledge of personal finance, she has her entrepreneurial parents to thank for that.
Our conversation focused on a few topics that educators will benefit from:
- How she selected a primary curriculum for her course,
- How she decided what topics to cover
- How she developed her first unit (“Intro to Personal Finance”) to have students identify their money beliefs and values.
Enjoy!
Details:
- 0:00~1:07 – Introduction
- 1:07~1:50 – Background on Elizabeth
- 1:50~2:36 – Personal finance as an elective at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon
- 2:36~4:54 – Elizabeth’s work as marketer at Microsoft and how it informs her teaching
- 4:54~8:35 – Her process to develop the personal finance course
- 8:35~10:46 – Deciding on what topics to include in the course
- 10:46~13:00 – Easiest/most difficult units to teach
- 13:00~13:52 – Paying for college unit
- 13:52~16:03 – Method/Approach to teaching
- 16:03~16:23 – A word from our sponsor, Next Gen Personal Finance
- 16:23~17:22 – How she plans to use spreadsheets in the classroom
- 17:22~24:02 – The “introduction to personal finance” unit that she developed
- 24:02~25:36 – Expectations from the parent survey
- 25:36~26:14 – Community support for the course
- 26:14~28:01 – Developing the course
- 28:01~29:07 – Stocks vs. index funds
- 29:07~29:36 – Right age to get a credit card
- 29:36~30:07 – Right amount of student debit
- 30:07~30:49 – Her best financial habits
- 30:49~31:56 – Who does she think of when she hears the word success?
- 31:56~32:37 – Billboard message in front of your high school
- 32:37~33:32 – Best financial advice she has given to her children
- 33:32~34:26 – Elizabeth’s kids
- 24:26~35:43 – Words of wisdom for other teachers
- 35:43~36:29 – Conclusion
About the Author
Tim Ranzetta
Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.
SEARCH FOR CONTENT
Subscribe to the blog
Join the more than 11,000 teachers who get the NGPF daily blog delivered to their inbox: