Schools

Riverhead High School Receives Blue Star School Award

The program helps to create students who are financially literate.

Riverhead students are financially literate.

Once again, Riverhead High School has received a Blue Star School Award.

The award is given by the Working In Support of Literacy program; the WISE financial literacy curriculum was implemented into Economics 12 courses in 2008.

In order to be chosen as a Blue Star School, a school must achieve a 75 percent passing rate on the financial literacy test and have either a majority of students on a given grade level take the test or have the students who took it achieve an average score of 80 percent or higher.

In addition, teachers Scott McKillop, Edward Grassman, and retired teacher Gerry Weismann achieved recognition as "Gold Star Teachers" almost every semester since the inception of the program at RHS.

Personal finance educators who have a class with 90 percent or more students passing the WISE financial literacy certification test earn the distinction of being named a Gold Star Teacher.

Established in 2003, the W!SE financial literacy certification program is a nationwide program created to support the instruction of personal finance in high schools.

The instruction culminates in the W!SE financial literacy certification test given in fall and spring semesters; the test evaluates students' knowledge of budgeting, money, interest, credit, banking, insurance, investing, regulatory agencies, housing, financial and retirement planning, and certifies their ability to manage their own finances. 

"It's knowledge that I know for sure I'll continue to use after I graduate," one senior said.

"Most students drop out of college not because of academic failure but because of personal debt, and the fastest growing group filing personal bankruptcy is young people ages 18 to 25," the WISE website states.

The aim of the program is to increase the number of young people who are financially literate; to measure the knowledge of personal finance among young people; and to recognize schools and teachers that graduate a high percentage of financially literate students.

"The majority of the seniors graduating from Riverhead High School have proven themselves to be financially literate," assistant principal and social studies director Michael Hugelmeyer said.  "Thanks to the economics teachers who work diligently to insure graduating seniors are wise about how to handle their funds and educated about their financial future." 


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