Career Center, Beacon Partner for Financial Literacy

Originally posted on pharostribune.com

In the coming weeks, some Logansport business students will learn about real-life situations on how to handle money.

Beacon Credit Union and the Century Career Center partnered in a financial literacy program called Banzai, which teaches students how to best structure finances. The credit union covers the cost of the program so it’s free for schools across the state that want to participate.

Diann Vernon, career center business teacher, has been using the Banzai program for about four or five years, and students will incorporate it into class in a couple of weeks. She said the online curriculum put students into a real-life scenario.

“It’s just stuff that every kid needs to learn before they get out of high school,” Vernon said about finances.

Abigail Chapman, design specialist at Beacon Credit Union, said she wants students to learn the essentials of keeping good finances starting in school, so they can create those habits before entering the “real world.”

“Partnering with Banzai has given us the opportunity to interact with the students in our local area schools to provide not only financial knowledge,” Chapman said in an email, “but also to teach them tangible steps they can take in order to achieve their financial goals.”

In the program, Vernon said students have to plan and put away at least $2,000 for college. They go through steps in life, including buying a car, renting apartments and getting paychecks.

Vernon said whatever students choose, the computer will output consequences for their actions, whether they are good or bad choices.

“Because it’s so real life, it sort of opens their eyes to those unexpected events,” Vernon said.

Teachers interested in using the Banzai program can visit teachbanzai.com or call 888-8-BANZAI.