00:00 - This program has been paid for by the sponsor and does not reflect

00:03 - the views of PCN.

00:27 - Welcome to the Keystone Education Report, where Pennsylvania's education

00:31 - leaders come together to address the key issues shaping our schools.

00:36 - In this episode, we're diving into financial literacy,

00:38 - an essential life skill for every student.

00:41 - Our guest today will explore how Pennsylvania is equipping K-12

00:45 - learners with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed

00:49 - financial decisions now and in the future.

00:52 - We begin our conversation today with Pennsylvania's Auditor General, Tim.

00:55 - DeFore.

00:56 - With over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and auditing,

01:00 - Tim has served in both public service and private industry and is a

01:03 - strong advocate for financial literacy and community engagement.

01:07 - General, thank you for joining us today.

01:09 - Thank you for having me. It's great. Great being here.

01:11 - Let me let me jump right in and ask you what inspired you

01:15 - to really make financial literacy a cornerstone of your work

01:18 - as Pennsylvania's auditor general?

01:20 - Well, actually, it started over a decade ago.

01:24 - Prior to me being auditors and when I was Dauphin County Comptroller,

01:27 - I was asked to speak to some college students about government finance.

01:31 - And what I did then

01:33 - as county comptroller left a little time at the end for questions and answers.

01:37 - And when I got some questions, none of the questions were about

01:41 - government finance.

01:42 - None of the questions were about what I did as comptroller.

01:45 - All the questions were about their own personal finance.

01:50 - So I started diving into how financial literacy was being taught

01:54 - and in Pennsylvania at the time, didn't really, didn't see a lot.

01:58 - So that started my,

02:02 - my mission to make sure that

02:05 - financial literacy was to the forefront of whatever I was doing.

02:09 - And when I was elected auditor general, we, started our big money smart

02:13 - financial literacy initiative, and that is to bring awareness

02:18 - to the needs of financial literacy promoting entities who are

02:24 - teaching financial literacy and going to schools

02:26 - that are also teaching financial literacy.

02:28 - So dive a little deeper in this Be Money Smart initiative.

02:32 - If I'm out in the community, what am I seeing as a part of this work?

02:35 - So what are you going to see?

02:36 - You're going to see a organizations working together.

02:40 - You're going to see a collaboration of government and the private sector

02:44 - because in my opinion, both have to work together.

02:48 - So, we partnered with the Pennsylvania State Police Credit Union.

02:52 - We partnered with Members First and other credit unions and organizations

02:56 - across the Commonwealth, because they really see the need

03:00 - and the importance of financial literacy, because ultimately,

03:04 - when our kids graduate from high school and the

03:07 - the focus was primarily on students who are from 12th grade to kindergarten.

03:14 - So these entities, when they see,

03:18 - they see the importance of it because the more educated

03:22 - the young person is about financial literacy,

03:25 - that means as an adult they're going to make smarter decisions.

03:29 - And who does that helps. That helps everybody.

03:32 - That helps the the financial institutions, of course, love it.

03:35 - And if they're going to buy a house, buy a car.

03:38 - The communities in which they reside, they're going to love it, too,

03:41 - because they're going to have somebody contributing to them to the tax base.

03:45 - What what's been the response so far as you've gotten to be out across the state?

03:49 - I know you travel regularly.

03:51 - What's been the response from from schools and from some of the students

03:54 - that are impacted by this?

03:55 - As far as the students and the schools, it has been

04:00 - overwhelming

04:02 - in support of of what we're doing.

04:04 - Especially coming from the students,

04:08 - because this is something that, that they want.

04:11 - They want to be prepared for whatever comes next.

04:16 - They, you know, when I, when I speak to the students,

04:19 - I always ask them, how many of you want to eventually buy a house?

04:24 - How many of you want to buy a car?

04:25 - Well, this is what it's going to take in order for you to to do that.

04:29 - So they're excited about it.

04:30 - The teachers are excited about it.

04:33 - Because they love teaching something new.

04:36 - In addition to that, one of the things that we've noticed, a lot of the teachers

04:40 - that are teaching financial literacy were in the private sector

04:46 - where they have been CEOs, CFOs, and they retire.

04:51 - They weren't ready to call it quits, and they wanted a new career being a teacher.

04:56 - And then you see a lot of them teaching financial

04:59 - literacy again, because they see the need.

05:02 - And, you know, one of the things that you said

05:04 - in your opening that I felt was extremely important.

05:06 - It's a life skill.

05:08 - I remember when I was in high school,

05:10 - I had to take Home EC

05:14 - and I'd take shop and I take home EC

05:16 - because I gotta learn how to cook. Yep.

05:19 - Had to learn how to sew.

05:21 - And you had to learn how to use wood tools and metal tools.

05:23 - That was considered a life skill.

05:26 - It's the same with financial literacy.

05:27 - No matter what you do in your career, whether you start a business,

05:32 - whether you work for someone, whether you go into the military

05:36 - or just have any any job, you're going to have to understand money.

05:40 - You're going to have to understand what you need in order to save saving

05:44 - for emergencies and some of the things that you need to do in order to live.

05:48 - So to me, financial literacy is a, is a life skill.

05:52 - We were talking a little bit before we started here, and you told me

05:55 - a story of one family being affected, and I thought that was amazing.

05:58 - Yeah. And it was.

06:00 - So we were visiting a school district, I believe it was in Allegheny County.

06:04 - And, we were there because one of their students,

06:08 - was being given an award

06:11 - for developing an, an app to stop,

06:16 - stop fraud on

06:17 - some of the, the financial wallets that we have.

06:22 - And so I started talking to the teacher and she started talking about another,

06:25 - another student

06:27 - who had taken the financial literacy class, didn't know anything about finance,

06:31 - didn't know anything about personal finance prior to taking this class.

06:35 - She took the class very excited about it.

06:39 - And she would comfortably go home, talk to her parents about the class

06:43 - and about their personal finance, which at the time was not very good.

06:48 - And finally, parents

06:50 - said, look, you're always talking about personal finance.

06:53 - Why don't you take over our finances?

06:55 - Which she did.

06:57 - As a result, for the first time in this young lady's life.

07:02 - Did the family not only have enough money to pay their bills,

07:06 - but they had enough money at the end to buy

07:09 - things like gifts and to buy treats and desserts.

07:13 - Some of the things we sometimes take for granted.

07:16 - But for this family, it meant the world.

07:20 - And that's the impact that one

07:24 - one financial literacy class can have on a kind of family.

07:28 - It changed their entire trajectory of their own.

07:31 - Well, it's got to motivate you and your team to keep pushing on this

07:34 - when you hear those kinds of stories. And that's just one.

07:36 - Yeah, that's that's just one.

07:38 - I mean, we tell your stories about, you know, how taking that one financial

07:42 - literacy class has in some cases, change changed students lives.

07:47 - And even in some families where there may be a language barrier,

07:51 - where this where the parents may not speak English,

07:54 - the student

07:55 - who speaks two languages will go and teach their family

07:59 - about, well, financial literacy and about their own personal finance.

08:02 - So that's why this, that's that's so important

08:07 - not only for the student, but it also has an effect on the students family,

08:12 - on their parents, and a lot of times they go and teach your siblings as well.

08:16 - And I want to perfect segue into I wanted to ask you about what do you see

08:19 - as the impact of teaching financial literacy to students as they're

08:23 - entering, college, the workforce, what have you?

08:26 - And, and when we talk about the need to help people with economic mobility

08:30 - and really change or help people break out of generational poverty.

08:33 - So you've got to be seeing something like that, I'm sure. Yes.

08:36 - Yes, we do.

08:38 - And, you know, share another story.

08:40 - There's a kid that,

08:41 - where we we were in in Philadelphia, we held a press conference talking about,

08:47 - talking about financial literacy.

08:48 - And there was a kid by the name of Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahman.

08:53 - He was from Kenya

08:56 - and first generation,

08:59 - and he didn't know anything about financial literacy.

09:03 - All he knew was, if you make money, that's good and that's it, okay.

09:08 - But he.

09:08 - But as far as the saving part, as far as the investing part,

09:12 - as far as, what it takes

09:15 - to pay for college or even

09:19 - if you apply for and get a student loan

09:22 - through the financial literacy class.

09:23 - He learned all that, and he said that changed his life.

09:28 - And other students,

09:30 - pretty much have it the same type of story.

09:32 - Or that one class pretty much just changed their life.

09:37 - If if I'm with a school district,

09:40 - how do I make sure that that we're able to offer this?

09:42 - Where do I where do I start if it's not already being offered?

09:45 - Well, so so next year, school year 2627.

09:49 - High school seniors have to take a half

09:51 - a credit of a financial literacy in order to graduate.

09:55 - My opinion, it,

09:57 - you know, I think financial literacy in Pennsylvania

09:59 - needs to be taught from kindergarten through 12th grade.

10:02 - Some schools have been doing that for over a decade,

10:06 - but for the schools who who aren't doing it

10:09 - and haven't been doing it, you know, maybe nervous about doing it

10:14 - at somebody.

10:16 - We have resources on our on our website.

10:20 - A lot of you local credit unions and I mentioned members first.

10:22 - I mentioned, the Pennsylvania State Police Credit Union.

10:26 - They also have resources as well, or think of a way to teach it.

10:30 - You don't necessarily have to follow what one entity is doing,

10:34 - how one entity is teaching it.

10:36 - And we we visited well over 20 different school districts

10:40 - in the Commonwealth that were teaching financial literacy for quite some time.

10:43 - They all do it differently.

10:45 - So if, if,

10:48 - if a teacher a for school district, school board,

10:51 - if there is a way that they think

10:54 - but teaching it works for them, then by all means go for it.

10:59 - Bottom line is not teaching it

11:02 - one way isn't going to work for all the school districts.

11:05 - I mean, we're in Erie.

11:06 - Erie teachers are different than what they do in Scranton.

11:09 - Scranton different than what they do in Philadelphia.

11:12 - Philadelphia teaches a different than what they do in Pittsburgh.

11:15 - So whatever works for your school district,

11:18 - you're good with that.

11:19 - I'm good with that.

11:20 - As long as it's as long as it's being taught right.

11:24 - Before I let you go, let's talk a little bit about your vision

11:25 - going forward.

11:26 - So you've you've utilized the platform of being auditor

11:29 - general to really push financial literacy as you hit the ground running.

11:33 - What's next?

11:34 - What's your vision for where this goes in Pennsylvania?

11:36 - Beyond?

11:37 - I've heard you say teaching it in more grades, not just senior, but

11:40 - but expand upon that. What?

11:42 - What else can be done?

11:44 - You know, I think that, you know, with as far as what the office

11:47 - and what what I can do.

11:49 - Always be an advocate.

11:50 - Advocate for it.

11:52 - Always talk about it.

11:55 - Talk about the importance of it.

11:57 - And again, like I said early on,

12:00 - the more

12:01 - educated a student is about financial literacy,

12:05 - the smarter decisions they're going to make as an adult.

12:08 - And that ultimately is going to help everybody.

12:11 - So what my my vision is,

12:14 - is having a healthier Pennsylvania.

12:18 - Have a Pennsylvania where

12:20 - as far as finance and financial literacy,

12:23 - as far as business schools, we're one of the leaders.

12:27 - And that's this is just my small way of of doing it.

12:32 - I may not have all the answers, but I think by

12:36 - as for this, this is my contribution.

12:39 - And I feel that it's my obligation as a statewide elected official

12:44 - to do more than just being a statewide elected official.

12:49 - Well, general, thank you for bringing the program forward.

12:52 - Thank you for advocating on behalf of all schools.

12:55 - Really appreciate all the hard work.

12:57 - And thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it.

13:02 - Excellence isn't just a goal, it's a standard.

13:04 - The great PA schools GPS designation honors Pennsylvania public schools

13:08 - that go above and beyond, where rigorous academics, strong community

13:12 - ties, financial responsibility and resilience come together.

13:16 - Today, we're highlighting one of our GH ribbon recipients, Palisades.

13:20 - School District.

13:21 - Hello, I'm Doctor

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13:25 - and there is no better way for me

13:26 - to start my morning than with coffee at the Pirates Pier Cafe.

13:29 - So come on in.

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13:43 - working at county clerks and sorry register.

13:48 - We have some greeters out in the hall and they perform duties

13:52 - such as customer service, prep duties, and closing.

13:56 - We're very excited about our work.

13:58 - We're looking for the next great Pennsylvania school district.

14:01 - Visit great PA schools.com to share your success story or apply for the ribbon.

14:30 - Welcome back to the Keystone Education Report, where we're joined

14:33 - by a group of panelists to add to our conversation

14:36 - on financial literacy for students across Pennsylvania.

14:39 - Luke Bernstein leads the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry

14:42 - as president and CEO, bringing decades of experience in business and public policy.

14:48 - Sarah Firestone is the vice president of community

14:50 - and public relations at Members First Federal Credit Union,

14:53 - where she oversees communications and community engagement.

14:56 - Duncan Campbell serves as president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Bankers.

15:00 - Association, guiding

15:01 - advocacy and leadership efforts for our financial institutions statewide.

15:05 - Thank you all for taking some time.

15:06 - Thank you for having us. Let's jump right into it.

15:08 - We're talking financial literacy.

15:10 - And I'm curious from each of your organization's perspectives.

15:14 - What role, the private sector

15:16 - should be playing in helping people become more financially literate?

15:20 - Sorry. Yeah.

15:21 - I think that, you know, it's one of those things

15:23 - where we should all be working together and being partners in this.

15:27 - I think we all have the same goal of, you know, helping students.

15:30 - We know that they're going to be our next generation in the workforce.

15:34 - They're going to be leading businesses.

15:36 - You know, becoming parents one day to then hopefully educate their children about,

15:40 - you know,

15:41 - financial literacy and how important it is as they work through their lives.

15:44 - I've got to assume the banking association, because this is vital, right?

15:47 - Well, look, if you think about what banks do for

15:50 - for their customers, it's all about financial capability.

15:53 - Financial literacy.

15:54 - You know, obviously students we're talking about today, but, you know,

15:57 - we have adults that have struggles around financial literacy.

16:00 - You know, that the savings for retirement, savings for a rainy day.

16:04 - And so, you know, obviously the banking industry, it's their bread and butter.

16:08 - It's their, you know, you know, apple pie and Chevrolet whatever we want to do.

16:12 - But that's what banks exist to, to give their, their customers

16:15 - and citizens the, the ability and the consulting around finance. So.

16:20 - Luke, let me ask you about something Sarah said.

16:22 - She talked about the need to partner.

16:23 - So as you talk to businesses across the state, you know, where's that

16:26 - opportunity?

16:27 - When we look at kind of how businesses can collaborate with educators

16:30 - to make sure that the banks have people that are financially literate.

16:33 - Yeah, it's a great question and a really important topic.

16:35 - You know, financial education truly is a great equalizer,

16:38 - because if you don't understand core financial concepts,

16:42 - you are never going to be able to reach your full potential.

16:44 - And you think about the partnership opportunities with the private sector

16:48 - coming in, offering mentors hip programs, offering different

16:51 - educational skills, offering programs through junior Achievement.

16:55 - Others.

16:56 - One key one that's coming up right now is we're partnering with the College Board

17:00 - on doing an AP course on personal finance and business.

17:04 - And obviously in Pennsylvania,

17:05 - after the mandate in 2023, to have a class and personal finance.

17:09 - What really this does is it's

17:11 - starting to educate at a younger age, which it's really important.

17:15 - These are very hard concepts to just pick up from your first job out of college.

17:20 - So you really need to be equipped and prepared to get these lessons earlier

17:23 - in life.

17:24 - A educated employer is a much better employer, an educated

17:29 - employee is a much better employee, and so together it can be very impactful.

17:32 - So you're launching that program.

17:34 - What have you found in terms of barriers?

17:36 - I think barriers like anything,

17:37 - there's just so much on school districts right now.

17:39 - It's just everything's coming down.

17:41 - So the opportunity to go out and talk about how

17:44 - this can be a differentiator, it can also be an equalizer.

17:47 - There are not a lot of AP courses today that allow college track,

17:52 - as well as career technical education track to come together in one course.

17:56 - Future entrepreneurs in America

17:58 - are likely going to be your Hvac workers, your plumbers, your carpenters.

18:02 - They all need personal finance skills, but we all do.

18:05 - And so this is a great opportunity, I think, to come together,

18:08 - learn these professional development, but learn these personal finance skills

18:12 - to prepare them for life. Sarah, let me ask you the same question.

18:14 - I mean, I know you guys are out doing community involvement.

18:16 - Engagement.

18:17 - What kind of barriers are you coming up against as we talk about how to get

18:21 - the education system more, able to deliver financial literacy?

18:25 - I think it's just, you know, kind of developing those partnerships

18:28 - with the school districts to be able to, you know, find the way in.

18:32 - But, you know, we look at that as an opportunity, though,

18:34 - because once we once we can do that and we can make those relationships,

18:38 - you know, to Luke's point, whether it's an elementary school, middle school

18:41 - or a high school, but how do you do that in an age appropriate level,

18:44 - you know, to help the students understand those, you know, from the very basic,

18:48 - you know, what does it mean to spend, save or give, you know, up to,

18:51 - you know, maybe at a high school level,

18:53 - like how important a credit score really is

18:55 - and how that credit score will impact you for the rest of your life.

18:58 - So, you know, I think we, you know, see the barriers, but how can we work

19:01 - past that with developing the partnerships to be able to get into the schools then?

19:05 - Duncan, same question to you.

19:06 - Yeah, the bankers know.

19:07 - Look, you know, bankers are in the schools they're in trying to help educate,

19:12 - American Bankers Association

19:13 - as programs get smart about credit every year, teach children to save.

19:17 - So I think it was saying, you know, teaching this investment,

19:21 - you know, savings, budgeting, investment credit, you know,

19:24 - for a ninth grader, to try and understand credit management.

19:27 - You know, he may he or she may not understand

19:29 - what that means today, but they're going to need to know it going forward.

19:32 - You know, the student loans

19:34 - are going to come in at some point here for for all these kids.

19:37 - And to be able to understand

19:38 - it just they're not going to understand it fully at that time.

19:41 - But it's, it's starting that process, talking about it.

19:43 - We talk with all of our kids, about what a you know, what what a budget means.

19:48 - You know, you spend within your means, you know, pay yourself.

19:51 - You have some savings.

19:52 - But, but at the same time, you know, how do you manage

19:56 - income in expense out and needs versus one.

20:01 - Back to what you said there about, you know, maybe hard for a ninth grader.

20:04 - Is there any way to make it more interesting?

20:06 - I mean, these are tough.

20:07 - These are tough conversations, right? This is complicated stuff.

20:09 - But is there a way to to make it more appealing to learn about,

20:13 - investing or taxes or any of our kids play games?

20:16 - So gamification is something that I think you're seeing more of and

20:20 - and look, make it fun.

20:21 - You know, it's just it's it can be a dry topic, but how do you make it fun?

20:26 - Thoughts on on other areas or other ways to make it more interesting

20:30 - as, as you guys, I mean, you're exploring this course.

20:31 - Yeah.

20:32 - You know, a couple of things we often talk about when I'm coaching basketball.

20:35 - You youth basketball coach,

20:36 - you can't get to the top of the steps unless you do the first set of steps.

20:40 - You can't you can't climb the stairs unless you do one step at a time.

20:43 - And so understanding the importance of it, you know, we had Shaquille O'Neal

20:47 - as our dinner speaker two weeks ago, and he was telling the story about how his

20:50 - mother would not let him go to the pros until he could bounce his own checkbook.

20:55 - And just because of the importance that that was going to require

20:59 - making it fun, I think most importantly, in addition

21:02 - to being fun, having the background knowledge,

21:05 - because if we don't in general, if we as individuals

21:08 - don't understand something, we tend to ignore it and avoid it.

21:11 - So getting early exposure to it and you can do all sorts of simulations,

21:16 - other other organizations have great worksheets

21:19 - that you can take a mock job, like you're in treatment as you do a mock job,

21:22 - how much money you make in that career, what do you have left over to save?

21:26 - But that importance is very critical.

21:28 - And I would say the last point is doing things on time.

21:32 - So if I turn an assignment late, kids know there's a

21:34 - you know, I would know there's a penalty.

21:36 - If you do not pay your bills on time, everything is going to cost you more.

21:40 - So understanding the core premise of personal accountability goes.

21:43 - It goes hand in hand with this guide to that reality fairs.

21:47 - I think you're talking about unity, but we do the same.

21:49 - And it gets it's a it's an exercise, right.

21:52 - It's not just a textbook.

21:53 - It's getting out and seeing, okay, if I have a mortgage, I have

21:56 - if I have an income, I need to have so much to cover

21:59 - a mortgage, you know, a cover rent cover, a car payment, cell phone, etc..

22:04 - What do I have left for me?

22:06 - And so, you know, teaching that and then also I like to take my son

22:10 - or son's to the bank, to, to see it in person, actually go,

22:14 - you know, deposit their, the money they've earned,

22:17 - you know, maybe keep a little bit of it, but put it in the bank and see that,

22:20 - that that can grow.

22:22 - We got a little bit of time left.

22:23 - So we're all kind of involved in Harrisburg

22:25 - and looking at state government, you guys have lobby teams that go in

22:29 - for issues.

22:30 - What can the state be doing, in your opinion to make this?

22:34 - I don't want to say easier, but maybe, smoother to

22:37 - to provide more financial literacy.

22:38 - Is there is there more that really we can be looking at now

22:41 - through the legislative process?

22:42 - Well, I think taking the first step,

22:44 - two years ago to have this course in Pennsylvania,

22:46 - I think it's really important.

22:48 - I think more encouragement and going out to the schools

22:51 - and partnering with local businesses, because bankers are in the schools,

22:55 - other businesses are in the schools trying to partner,

22:57 - going in together and talking about the importance of it.

23:00 - Oftentimes an elected official will come in as well.

23:03 - You know, you can even use a school district budget and say,

23:05 - here's how much money we have.

23:07 - If we can't have $8 million going to the football program

23:11 - and $45 million going to this program, this group,

23:13 - because we won't have any more money to do it.

23:15 - So how can we utilize some real life exercises

23:19 - to put before some of the legislatures to go in and be part of?

23:23 - I know you're having the Auditor General on,

23:24 - and he's been a great advocate for financial education and knows

23:28 - the importance of him and his leadership involved in that process.

23:32 - Thoughts on all the things he can do.

23:34 - 30 states now have this, this requirement, you know, see how it goes.

23:38 - You know, our bankers have been, you know, with programs for for a while.

23:41 - I think, you know,

23:42 - bottom line is, you know, how do we engage the students, how to engage the teacher,

23:46 - how do we use a curriculum to help students understand that they,

23:49 - the responsibility comes with their financial wherewithal.

23:52 - Before we wrap up, I want to ask, you know,

23:54 - we've talked a little bit about workforce.

23:55 - I think you mentioned the future entrepreneurs. I love that,

23:59 - aligning all of this to the

24:01 - current workforce demands what else can be done there

24:03 - outside of the state and regs and things like that?

24:05 - Can we can we do more to help the workforce be ready?

24:08 - Absolutely.

24:09 - And it's further partnership in education.

24:11 - You know, if I'm in a school district, I guarantee you if you go to

24:15 - any of your local financial institutions, you go to a lot of your businesses

24:18 - and you say, can you come into a partnership or seminar

24:21 - with us in preparing, whether it be a career fair

24:24 - or others, the businesses are going to say yes if they don't give me a call.

24:28 - If you can't, we will put your numbers screen.

24:30 - We will get businesses available.

24:31 - The partner, because I know we have so many members

24:33 - that want to do that, and if we can have more educated students,

24:37 - we will have better results, more active participants,

24:40 - and it'll be a much better result for everyone.

24:43 - Sarah, let me ask you, I know you consider, customers members, right?

24:47 - Members first, though.

24:48 - What do you hear from members that are these entrepreneurs,

24:51 - the workforce out there in terms of their needs and their preparedness?

24:55 - Yeah, I think that, you know,

24:56 - just being open to whatever questions they have and, you know, being able

25:00 - and being that resource, being that trusted partner

25:02 - in their financial journey, you know, is what we want to do for our members.

25:06 - So I think just being there, you know, whether it's through coming in to a branch

25:10 - or calling in, but,

25:12 - having those relationships that they develop, I think allows a little bit

25:15 - more of that one on one conversation to be able to help the entrepreneurs,

25:19 - help the small business owners, or just to help your everyday member,

25:22 - with whatever questions they may have on the financial literacy perspective.

25:25 - All right, Sarah, the last word was yours. Thank you for being here, Duncan.

25:28 - Thank you. Luke. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

25:33 - Excellence isn't just a goal, it's a standard.

25:35 - The great PA schools GPS designation honors Pennsylvania public schools

25:39 - that go above and beyond where rigorous academics, strong community

25:43 - ties, financial responsibility and resilience come together.

25:47 - Today, we're highlighting one of our GH ribbon recipients,

25:50 - Franklin Area School District.

25:54 - In the fall of 2024,

25:56 - we transformed our libraries, you know, cutting edge Stem media centers

26:00 - providing students from grades pre-K through 12 with hands on access

26:05 - to advanced technologies and creative learning experiences.

26:10 - Spaces like these have transformed the way our students learn, shaping them

26:13 - into problem solvers and leaders from elementary through high school,

26:18 - our elementary robotic students learn through experience and exploration.

26:22 - They gain confidence as they see their ideas come to life, one gear at a time.

26:28 - By middle

26:29 - school, our students are designing, coding, and computing.

26:32 - They learn perseverance and the power of timber skills

26:34 - that extend beyond the classroom.

26:37 - At the high school level, robotics becomes real world engineering.

26:41 - Students use advanced technology and problem solving to design robots

26:45 - that perform complex tasks, all while utilizing

26:49 - the engineering design process.

26:52 - Our students are natural explorers, sparking their curiosity through hands

26:56 - on learning, building, experimenting, and discovering how things work.

27:00 - They learn that every challenge is a chance to think creatively and grow.

27:05 - Stem education empowers students to innovate,

27:08 - from computer science to engineering design to effectively leveraging AI,

27:12 - we're building the foundation for future careers in technology and beyond.

27:18 - Stem in robotics,

27:20 - igniting curiosity, inspiring innovation,

27:23 - and empowering every student for tomorrow.

27:27 - We're looking for the next great Pennsylvania school district.

27:30 - Visit great PA schools.com to share your success story or apply for the GH ribbon.

28:00 - Thanks for tuning in to the Keystone Education Report.

28:03 - Today's episode explored financial literacy in K-12

28:07 - schools, highlighting how students can make informed decisions

28:11 - and build a foundation for lifelong financial well-being.

28:14 - Join us next time as we continue to explore the challenges

28:18 - and opportunities shaping public education across

28:21 - the Commonwealth.

28:56 - Missed the latest episode?

28:58 - No problem.

28:59 - View last month's episode and read more about the Keystone.

29:02 - Education Report at psb.org/keystone-education-report.

29:09 - Whether you're a school leader, policymaker or passionate advocate,

29:14 - the Keystone Education Report keeps you connected to what matters most

29:17 - in public education.

30:05 - This program has been paid

30:07 - for by the sponsor and does not reflect the views of PCN.