BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Micromanaging money, introductions to the world of business and banking, and hands-on learning are key to the lessons being taught to Kern County high school students at the Career Technical Education Center in Bakersfield. A class about the basics of money and personal finance isn't commonly taught, but the knowledge is proving critical for students everywhere.
"This will really help you with things they don't teach you in everyday classes, and stuff you're gonna need, like taxes and all that," said Frontier High School senior and CTEC student Mina Richmond.
Stockdale High senior Baily Lechuga agrees.
"They have more time to show us these categories that we can't get at school," said Lechuga. "At school, you skim through it, but at CTEC, you really get the foundations of what we're doing."
Richmond and Lechuga say when they realized that CTEC could guide them into their dream careers, it was an easy decision to apply. In the CTEC program, students are taught how to use money, the definition of credit, and what getting a business degree entails. In addition, they're taught skills like public speaking, resume building, and making presentations.
"Business is the number 1 major in college, so we want kids to have an understanding of what that looks like," said Denise Sardo, a teacher at CTEC. "Then we really focus on the finance, so personal finance as well as business finance."
Sardo has been the business, banking, and finance teacher at CTEC for the past 8 years and says students are never fully exposed to how to be an adult until they become one. Sardo says her experience in teaching at CTEC has shown her that each student is more than capable of participating in a class like this. All they need is the opportunity.
"You see that growth in certain individuals sometimes you're shocked by, right? The shy student that wouldn't even speak in class, and then they go to internship and they're the best performing student," said Sardo.
Sardo says questions about money and credit are typically among the most frequently asked, and that while most students know what a credit card is, they don't actually understand credit itself.
Hands-on financial learning activities are done with fake money. Lessons include things like how to count and interact with currency in the banking world, keeping track of a bank account, and learning how to manage household finances and how much it really costs to keep a home.
Richmond has only been in the class for about a week, but she says she's grateful to be participating. She says these are skills that are used in everyday life, and because she's learning about the finance world, she feels like she will be better prepared for adulthood once she graduates.
"If you don't know, sometimes that can work against you and you can end up set back, and if you would've just been taught certain skills beforehand, you could've been able to handle the situation a lot better," said Richmond.
Career Technical Education Center classes are only available to junior and senior students within the Kern High School District. Applications for the CTEC program open in November, and student applications are reviewed by school officials. To learn more about CTEC and how to submit an application, please visit the CTEC website.
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