Teacher Highlight: Financial Literacy at Walter Long STEAM Academy

Andson’s Piggy Bank Program started at Walter Long STEAM Academy in 2016. Since then it has grown to be one of the highest performing Piggy Bank locations. As of September 2019 Long has had 3,714 student deposits totaling $12,147.19!

We couldn’t achieve such spectacular student savings without the help of dedicated teachers bolstering student engagement with our Openvest Financial Literacy Curriculum in their classrooms. This week we’d like to highlight Silva Ponce, a first grade teacher at Long Elementary.

Andson: What made you want to become a teacher?

Ponce: I’ve always known I wanted to be a teacher. I love working with kids. I’ve been working with kids my whole life, from helping to raise my younger brothers, to participating in tutoring programs when I was in high school. My freshman year in college, I started off as a nursing major. I soon found out that Education was for me, so I switched to Elementary Education, and I am so happy I made that decision!

Andson: What do you feel is the best way to keep your students involved in learning?

Ponce: The best way to involve my students in learning is just that, involving them in the process. I also find that my students learn better and are more engaged in the process when they learn from each other. I let them talk with their teammates to solve problems together. We’ve been learning how to “coach” our friends when they are struggling with a concept rather than telling them the answer. They like listening to their friends more than they like listening to me sometimes!

Andson: How long have you been teaching Openvest in your classroom?

Ponce: This is my second year teaching Openvest.

Andson: What do you think your students enjoyed the most about the financial literacy lessons from Andson? Did you do anything to make it more personalized for your students?

Ponce: They really enjoyed the hands-on activities and games.

Andson: If you had any financial advice to give to the youth today, what would it be?

Ponce: Pay yourself first!

Watch the interview here:

Teacher Highlight: Financial Literacy at Eva Wolfe

In September 2019 we opened our 5th Piggy Bank location at Eva Wolfe Elementary School! The Andson Piggy Bank Program is the pillar of our financial literacy initiative that we started ten years ago. Wolfe’s Piggy Bank was made possible by our partnership with the Clark County School District and Silver State Schools Credit Union, and generous grants from The Las Vegas Golden Knights Foundation and the T-Mobile Foundation.  

Ribbon Cutting at Eva Wolfe Elementary

Across the Las Vegas area Andson has installed actual functioning “banks” in five elementary schools. Our Piggy Banks are staffed by Andson tellers, and include a coin machine, cash boxes, deposit slips, and lots of encouragement and smiles! Once a week for the entire school year, 1st-5th grade students come to the Piggy Bank and make deposits into their own savings accounts with real money. At 5th grade graduation, each student gets a check for the money they’ve been saving. We encourage students to continue saving by opening a joint junior savings account with their parents. 

In conjunction with our weekly Piggy Bank Program, teachers at Wolfe give in-class lessons using our one-of-a-kind financial literacy curriculum from Openvest. Openvest is Andson’s comprehensive financial literacy curriculum that meets Common Core, National, and State standards and is engaging for students! Curated by teachers, this curriculum spans grades 1 through 5 and is designed to educate the entire family. Each lesson streams online, supplemented by hands-on activities, printed in-class activities, and parent connection worksheets provided in both English and Spanish.

This month we’d like to highlight a special teacher at Wolfe who has shown exemplary enthusiasm in the classroom using our Openvest Financial Literacy lessons. 

Matthew Keener has been teaching for 19 years and currently works at Wolfe Elementary as a second grade teacher. 

Andson: What made you want to become a teacher? 

Keener: I actually started out not wanting to be a teacher. My mother was a teacher and I had aunts and uncles that were teachers. I ended up in college as a biology major on track to become a physical therapist. Then one fateful day, I took an education course taught by an amazing professor and I was hooked. The rest is history!

Andson: What do you feel is the best way to keep your students involved in learning?   

Keener: The best way to keep students involved is to model concepts in a variety of ways and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding in a way that reflects them as learners. Using a student centered approach, we can understand student needs and use our abilities as educators to meet those needs with a variety of strategies.

Andson: How long have you been teaching Openvest in your classroom?  

Keener: This is my first year using the program.

Andson: What do you think your students enjoyed the most about the financial literacy lessons from Andson? Did you do anything to make it more personalized for your students?   

Keener: I think students enjoyed talking about money and the way in which saving money can help us to achieve some of our goals. I provided additional language support as well as opportunities for discussion to help students make connections to the material.

Andson: If you had any financial advice to give to the youth today, what would it be?  

Keener: I think it is important for students to know that money can help us achieve material goods, but it can also provide security. Having that “nest egg” sure can come in handy when life presents us with a challenge.

Watch the interview here: