Hampden Bank program helps teach teens financial literacy

Date: 12/9/2008

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor



SPRINGFIELD Credit cards can be easy to obtain, however, not so simple to pay off, especially if a na ve teen has racked up thousands in debt.

For the past five years, Hampden Bank has helped students at 13 local high schools learn about the responsibilities associated with credit cards and the importance of managing personal finances.

The "How to do Your Banking" curriculum is provided to business and finance teachers free of charge and includes visual aids, DVDs, books as well as guest lectures from Hampden Bank personnel. Students learn everything from how to balance a check book to calculating disposable income to reviewing credit reports.

"The timing of this program couldn't be better," Thomas Burton, president and CEO of Hampden Bank, said. "When we help our young people learn how to take responsibility for their own finances, everyone benefits, and in this format they have the ability to learn in the classroom, where mistakes won't cost them real dollars."

Megan Anzalotti, Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship teacher at Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, said she chose to include this curriculum within her semester-long course because of its basic concepts and emphasis on "making sure [students] are really competent in the areas [of personal finance]."

"This course wasn't offered to me in school," she recalled. "I had to learn all of this stuff on my own. I tell [my students] 'You guys are really fortunate to be one of the few high schools that offer this program' So many young people get buried in debt because they don't know any better. They don't read the fine print or take the time. It's very important to know that when they're young."

Amy Scribner, assistant vice president and senior marketing administrator at Hampden Bank agreed.

"The economic times of today [specifically] with bankruptcies and foreclosures, we're hoping that getting these children to learn while they're young [and] to understand these skills [will give them] a better understanding of banking as a whole and who to stay away from such as predatory lenders and sub prime lenders," she said.

Scribner explained that Hampden Bank will continue to offer the program for all schools willing to take on the curriculum, especially during these difficult economic times.