Are Riverhead Students Financially Literate?

District To Administer Financial Literacy Certification Test

(February 11, 2008 - Riverhead, NY) Riverhead Central School District Superintendent Dr. Diane B. Scricca announced today that she wants all students at Riverhead High School to graduate "financially literate." Starting this term, Riverhead High School will integrate personal finance instruction as part of Economics, a course required for graduation. Students will learn about topics such as banking, credit, insurance, investing, housing, retirement and financial planning.

The school district partnered with W!SE (Working in Support of Education), to implement their Financial Literacy Certification Program that includes a Financial Literacy Certification Test and survey post instruction. Students who pass the test will receive documentation verifying that they have been Certified Financially Literate (CFL).

Dr. Scricca lauded the Financial Literacy Certification Program as “one of a kind” and says it will bring the students of Riverhead High School up to speed in understanding how to manage their money and avoid the pitfalls of debt. The program paves the way for Riverhead High School students to grasp concepts that are foreign to so many students of the same age.”

“Current headlines about home foreclosures, the sub-prime lending crisis, and escalating personal bankruptcies underscore dramatically the need for far greater focus on personal finance in our nation’s schools,” said Phyllis Frankfort, President of W!SE and Chair of the New York Financial Literacy Coalition. “By adequately educating today’s students about how to be financially savvy, will we avert the repetition of such crises in the future. It is abundantly clear that the philosophy underlying the “No Child Left Behind Act” applies equally to financial literacy as well as academic literacy.

The Allstate Foundation is sponsoring the Financial Literacy Certification Program for Riverhead High School, which will join the more than 40,000 students in 23 states who are participating in the program with the goal of earning the CFL.

“This is another step in preparing our students for their financial futures,” said David Zimbler, Principal, Riverhead High School. "The Financial Literacy Certification Program, winner of the United States Treasury Department’s John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education should be added to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic as the fourth R.”

The Financial Literacy Certification Test, the signature initiative of the New York Financial Literacy Coalition, was created by W!SE in 2003. The Financial Literacy Certification Program partners with high schools that agree to teach a comprehensive course or unit on personal finance, and then assesses and measures students’ grasp of the subject matter by administering a rigorous test to thousands of students nationwide.

W!SE - Working In Support of Education - is an educational 501 (c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing educational support services nationwide, building financial literacy, fostering business and social entrepreneurship, and preparing students for college and the global workplace.

Photo caption: (L-R): RHS Principal David Zimbler; Phyllis Frankfort, President of W!SE and Chair of the NY Financial Literacy Coalition; Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diane B. Scricca; Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Nancy Carney.

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