It was December 2007; a number of us had just graduated from university the previous May. We talked about the challenges we encountered these last few months after graduation and found that there was a constant theme, personal finance. We realized that it was the first time in our lives that we’ve had to face financial challenges, alone. We no longer had our parents to constantly support us or our teachers to advise us. For the first time, we were on our own.

We realized that throughout our high school and university education, we were not taught the financial skills needed to prepare us for the “real world”. We did not want students after us to face the same challenges without being prepared. That is why we started Financial Literacy for Youth (FLY)

FLY started with just 5 members driven by a common concern. We started out researching what students were taught in high schools and why personal finance remains as one of the least taught subjects. We found two main problems: The first is that there is a lack of resources for teachers to teach finance. The second is that of the resources available, many are too extensive for teachers to use or too dull to engage students. We decided that the best way for us to help would be to develop a set of teaching materials that would encompass input and feedback from both students and teachers. We wanted the grassroots to be actively engaged in building the curriculum.

Today, FLY has been quite successful in achieving its plan. We have recruited 15 grade 10 students and 13 Planning teachers who are inspired by our purpose and willing to volunteer their time to help. Our team has grown from 5 active team members to 12, and we now have a board of directors that ensures FLY continues in the right direction. With the help of such a caring community, our work is beginning to take shape. As of July 2008, we have just delivered our first lessons to our team of teachers for review, and we are on schedule to pilot the full curriculum in September 2008.

The Next Chapter

Even with all the work that our team has put in, FLY is still in its beginning stages. We are still a long way from accomplishing our mission, and we will continue to need help along the way. We invite you to join us in making financial literacy a reality in our community.