The WEOKIE Credit Union Foundation recently brought its Money Talks financial education program to three Oklahoma high schools.
Nathan Gillen, the foundation's financial education director, visited students at Southmoore High School, Moore High School and Yukon High School to present sessions on savings and investing and understanding credit.
The savings and investing session covered the components of effective saving and explained how compounding interest helps your wealth grow over time.
"When you save your money with compounding interest, you accumulate wealth much like a snowball effect," Gillen said. "There is freedom in financial independence."
The session on understanding credit covered the importance of a good credit score and explained how a credit score is formulated and how it affects interest rates.
"Students today are very aware of credit and savings, and know bits and pieces of how it works," Gillen said. "Our Money Talks program tries to pull the different bits and pieces together so that they have a more complete understanding of how credit works."
Money Talks is a no-cost, interactive program that focuses on classroom lessons, presentations and seminars in grades 2-12 to help students understand financial responsibilities and encourage them to make smart decisions as they become more financially accountable.
The WEOKIE Credit Union Foundation provides a formal avenue of charitable giving for WEOKIE Credit Union and offers financial education and scholarship opportunities to Oklahoma City and surrounding communities.
--mmurphy@cutimes.com
