Mikhaila Missimer, a 15 year-old sophomore, is saving for a car. So is sophomore Camden Nichols, also 15. He hopes to save enough from a job at a local convenience store to buy a car next year.
The students both cite Bender’s class for helping them attempt to turn their goals into a reality. Her students learn to set “SMART goals,” goals that are “specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.”
Too often, teens have generic savings goals and no plan to achieve them, Bender says. The SMART goal curriculum teaches them to set realistic goals with incremental savings targets to keep themselves on track. It’s an important lesson in learning to take control of one’s finances, Bender says, a lesson that’s catching on across the country.
