Priceless Partnership Builds Strong Framework For Banneker Students

The lessons Nicolle Laster shares with her students at Banneker High School will stick with them for the rest of their lives. 

“Financial literacy is something that is near and dear to my heart,” Laster says. 

She is a Business Education teacher and part of Banneker’s 3DE Business & STEM program. The focus of 3DE aims to guide students with relevant, real-world concepts, with the goal of setting them up for success long after they graduate. 

Laster’s approach to teaching partners perfectly with a platform developed by Everfi and the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), called “Minding Your Money: Skills for Life.” Students learn the basics of budgeting, managing credit and debit accounts, filing taxes, and how to build a smart financial framework.                   

The program expands beyond numbers, with a mental health component. Students are guided through ways to navigate important and sometimes stressful conversations about finances with family and friends. 

Faye Loghman-Adham with Everfi says the course equips students with, “Tips and tricks to have good financially healthy habits and understand how to deal with those pieces along the way.”

“It’s interactive,” Laster says. “It deals with so many things they will be dealing with on a real level.”

Across the country, there is a growing emphasis on financial literacy and its real-world applications. According to the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), it is a graduation requirement in 29 states, including Georgia.

Recently, Banneker students expanded those interactive lessons in a day-long event led by volunteers with Guardian and local financial planning business Peachtree Planning. A standout moment for Laster was when students did a journaling exercise where they visualized their future and its relation to finances. 

Laster says the exercise resonated with students because, “It got them to think big picture, not just about themselves, but everybody around them.”

At the event, Laster was honored as a Well-Being Ambassador. Leah Pletcher with Everfi says the honor is awarded to “Educators who make a lasting impact by championing student wellness through encouragement, guidance and care.”

Laster says she tells all her students, “See your vision and work towards your vision.” She says she is honored to be recognized for sharing that message. 

Everfi resources are available to all FCS students through the Classlink platform, and it works actively with schools across the district.

Nicolle Laster speaks at event honoring her as a Well-Being Ambassador