olunteers from Kennebunk Savings came to present on two very important topics “Money Concepts for Teens and Young Adults” and “Understanding Your Credit Report and Score.”

The Academy of Business through its Program Advisory Committee has a strong partnership with the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce. It has been our goal to get more businesses into the program to talk with students on various topics.  

This week’s focus has been on financial literacy. Volunteers from Kennebunk Savings came to present on two very important topics “Money Concepts for Teens and Young Adults” and “Understanding Your Credit Report and Score.”

The first presentation “Money Concepts for Teens and Young Adults” focused on students getting their first job, making big decisions, paying for college, entering the workforce and establishing credit. 

Students felt that the presentation reinforced the topics that have been covered in the morning program, which helped them connect and make it applicable to their future. They now realize they need to really focus on getting ready for college and life after SRTC.

The second presentation “Understanding Your Credit Report and Score” continued to focus on why credit is important, what’s on their credit report, how to obtain credit reports, credit scores and how they are calculated and how to build or rebuild a credit score. 

This session was excellent as students need to know where to start when it comes to credit and financial decisions. One key takeaway that we all learned is that students this age could have a credit score. Does that sound like a good thing?  It might not be, because generally if a student at this age has a credit score it is most likely due to stolen identity.  

Thus it is important to check to see if you have a credit score as a high school student to be sure they are not a victim.  https://www.annualcreditreport.com/  That was powerful information.

Because of the impact that the team made with the AM program at the beginning of the week, the PM Academy of Business program invited Mr. Stitson’s Personal Finance class from the high school to be part of the final presentation on Friday.  It was a jammed packed room of students engaged with great information.

A special thank you goes to Mark Ross, Retail Experience Manager at Kennebunk Savings and Jason Errington who is Branch Manager at the Sanford location. Together they partnered to give the presentations to the students.  

The information they provided the students with today comes from Greenpath, which is a Financial Counseling Services, which is available online to help people build financial health and resiliency. 

The NFCC-certified counselors give you options to manage credit card debt, student loans and homeownership. They can be accessed at https://www.greenpath.com/.  What a great way to spend time before winter break for students to make a valuable community connection while enhancing their overall learning experience.