Ohio passed a law in 2022 requiring high school students to receive one-half credit of financial literacy as a graduation requirement. While some teachers had to scramble to meet the requirements with little or no financial help, many schools in our area had already been providing financial literacy to local students with help from Richwood Bank.
Five years ago, Richwood partnered with Banzai to provide teachers with a comprehensive financial literacy curriculum, including an engaging app for students. The curriculum covers spending, budgeting, setting goals like purchasing a car or saving for college, and borrowing. Teachers are provided with printed workbooks for students to teach math, critical thinking, and vocabulary activities.
One of the best features of Banzai is an interactive course app that gives students an experienced-based online game to master financial topics. Students receive their ‘paycheck’ and have to decide how much to save and how much cash they want to carry. If they’ve reached their savings goal for a car, they get to decide which one to buy – a cheap ride that may not be reliable or a brand new one with a high monthly payment. That decision will trigger a consequence later in the game – like when that cheap car breaks down and requires an expensive repair. While students might be frustrated with the setback in the game, adults understand this is a real-world problem. The hits keep coming as the students navigate spending, saving, credit cards, and more before reaching the end of the game.
Our impact for the 2022-2023 school year:
- 36 schools sponsored
- 163 teachers served
- 11,780 students educated
Richwood makes this investment in financial literacy because it fits beautifully with our why: To inspire, protect, and celebrate anything that makes communities thrive. We’re proud to do our part to help these students learn and apply good financial habits.
