Whitney Rosno, a Hayes Center, Nebraska, high school senior, is the first winner of the Student of the Month contest sponsored by EverFi, an educational technology company in Washington, D.C. The prize is a $100 gift card.
Students were asked to share what lessons they learned after completing one of Ever Fi’s K-12 online learning courses and how the course helped shape their future plans. Whitney completed the EverFi Financial Literacy course and received certification through her English class at Hayes Center High School.
The course is sponsored at Hayes Center High School by AmFirst Bank, with locations in Hayes Center, McCook, and Benkelman in Nebraska and two locations in Colorado.
“I congratulate Whitney for her willingness to share her ideas and, by doing so, encourage other students to take advantage of opportunities to study personal finance and to recognize the importance of learning how to become financially responsible adults,” said Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg, who has promoted the EverFi program in Nebraska high schools.
“The EverFi program has made a huge impact on the decisions I will make moving forward in life,” Whitney wrote. “My behavior has been impacted by making me think twice before spending money on frivolous things, and to focus more on saving.” Whitney wrote that the course also will help her prepare for college. She plans to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and eventually enter medical school.
Whitney’s teacher Ann Fornoff, who has been using the EverFi Financial Education platform in her classes since 2011, said the course gives students “an opportunity to learn how to be a financially good, responsible citizen.” Students learn about managing money, using credit cards appropriately, budgeting, and assuming major responsibilities such as putting food on the table and paying rent, she said.
Fornoff, who has taught at Hayes Center for 30 years, formerly used the EverFi platform in a personal finance class. But when student numbers dropped, she began weaving the course into her senior English class, allowing students to work at their own pace on EverFi modules in between English units.
Whitney was one of Fornoff’s first three students to complete the course and be certified this school year. In all, Fornoff estimates she has had 40 to 50 students complete the course over the past four years.
The beauty of an online class like EverFi’s Financial Education course is that high quality instruction can be available to students in a variety of learning environments from large schools in metropolitan areas to rural schools like Hayes Center. A total of 100 students are enrolled in K-12 grades at Hayes Center.
More information about the course is available at everfi.com/financial-education.
Read Whitney’s blog posting at january-student-month-contest-winner.
About NEST
NEST is a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan and provides four plans to help make saving for college simple and affordable: NEST Direct College Savings Plan, the NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, the Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan, and the State Farm 529 Savings Plan. The Nebraska State Treasurer serves as Program Trustee. Union Bank & Trust Company serves as Program Manager, and all investments are approved by the Nebraska Investment Council. Families nationwide are saving for college using Nebraska’s 529 College Savings Plans, which have more than 285,000 accounts, including over 94,000 in Nebraska. Visit NEST529.com and treasurer.nebraska.gov for more information.
