Waianae High School Students Participate in SmartMoney Lesson Day

More than 450 students at Waianae High School participated in a valuable financial literacy course on Tuesday, taught by 35 volunteers from Bank of Hawaii for SmartMoney Lesson Day.

All 18 of the 11^th grade English classes were led by bank employees for an hour so the students could learn how to “Get Smart About Credit.” The lesson plan covered key topics for older teenagers—understanding credit reports and credit scores, protecting your financial identity, budgeting, and financing a college education.

“It is important that teens understand credit—its value and the impact it can have on their lives—before they graduate high school and become independent adults. Many of our students wouldn’t receive this sort of specialized financial education without SmartMoney Lesson Day. We are grateful to the experts at Bank of Hawaii who volunteered their time to teach these life lessons to our entire junior class here at Waianae High School,” said Tyson Arasato, Waianae High School teacher.

In recent weeks, Bank of Hawaii volunteers have shared the “Get Smart About Credit” curriculum to students in 11 schools across Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. SmartMoney Lesson Day is an engaging, interactive exploration of the concepts of money, which is designed to promote personal financial education in middle and high school. The program provides age-appropriate curriculum to help youth learn the basics of handling their money and finances, including how to create positive relationships with financial institutions.

Since 2009, Bank of Hawaii has provided unique financial educational opportunities every year to public schools across the state of Hawaii, only pausing for two years due to the pandemic.