In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2015, NGPF is celebrating the hard work and commitment to personal finance education exhibited by our nation’s teachers by featuring just a few members of our NGPF educator community. 

Featured Teacher: Alex Lamon, Business Education Teacher

School: Livingston High School, Livingston, NJ

What is your favorite part of teaching personal finance?

I really enjoy the fact that I’m teaching something relevant to all my students. No matter who they are, they need to know how credit works and how to create a budget for their finances. I love that my students never have to wonder when they are going to use this in real life. It’s obvious, and they value the class.

If you had to give a first year personal finance teacher a piece of advice, what would it be?

Use veteran teachers’ experience to guide you when implementing best practice resources and strategies. At the same time, do some content creation on your own and try some new strategies that you think would benefit the students in your classroom. It is a great year to learn what works and what doesn’t.

Tell us about a time your students had a real AHA! moment regarding personal finance.

We were creating budgets based on income from a chosen career. The students were doing a lot of on the spot learning as they made their budget. One of my freshmen called me over and said her expenses were way more than her income. I asked her what this means, and what she needs to do about it. She paused for about 5 seconds and said, “Wait, am I in debt?” It was a great realization that I was able to sit back and watch, and she quickly went away to find areas where she could spend less money.

About the Author

Jessica Endlich

When I started working at Next Gen Personal Finance, it's as though my undergraduate degree in finance, followed by ten years as an educator in an NYC public high school, suddenly all made sense.