By Kate E. Salute
Even though it is not currently one of the schools that works with the Financial Literacy Coalition and Working in Support of Education (WISE), West Hempstead High School provides courses that cover the principles of finance. But are students getting the financial knowledge they need to be prepared for the cruel credit-fueled world?
³We have a number of classes that deal with finances and banking,² said foreign language and business department chairman Paul Sabatino. He was quick to offer the Herald a visit to the high school to observe those classes. Michael Silberman was pegged as the man who knows the ins and outs of financial management and its teaching at West Hempstead High.
The enthusiastic teacher
Silberman, an eager teacher with a white beard and a jovial personality, explained that the business and finance classes that West Hempstead offers are electives, but also a sequence option like language, art and music. ³So the kids have a lot that is available to them,² he said.
He provided a brochure that lists the 16 business courses that inquiring minds have available. They are currently open to all students, though the school is looking to limit their availability next year to sophomores, juniors and seniors. ³Some of the concepts are a little bit difficult for the ninth-graders,² Silberman said.
Silberman, whose four-year teaching career includes a year of teaching finance at Hofstra, said that he, along with his co-workers, brings real world knowledge to the classroom, having come from a 15-year career in management. ³I think it's a great advantage, and it really helps,² he said.
³I think it's important [to teach financial management] because there really isn't anyone out there prior to college teaching and educating kids how to manage their finances,² Silberman said. ³What's a stock? What's a bond? What do I do with my credit card bills? How do I get a car loan? Unless it's their parents teaching them these things, they don't know. But what's going on in America is that a lot of parents have no real knowledge of finances themselves, because they were never taught."
He continued, "I was fortunate enough to have a mother who was very versed in money, who taught me to start saving as a little kid. I had my first job delivering newspapers when I was 12, and when I made $25, my mother would say, ŒYou get $5 and then $20 goes in the bank. If you want more money, get a second job.¹²
The students
When the bell rang at the beginning of Financial Management I, students ranging from freshman to seniors filed into the classroom, each greeting Silberman and then taking a seat.
"There are a couple of do-nows on the board,² Silberman began as they removed their backpacks and took out notebooks, pens and calculators. ³Do them now and then we¹ll get started. Everybody better know how to do a yield."
The students spoke openly and confidently about what they had learned so far in their first finance class ever. Junior Ryan Skoulatos said half jokingly that he takes finance "so I can get rich and make money and then make money on my money and then come back and thank Mr. Silberman."
Supplemental to lessons on stocks, the students have the opportunity to play the stock market game to get hands-on experience in the risks that come with it. ³They get a better concept about how it all works," said Silberman.
Senior Victoria Geller said, "After taking this class, I think that I should never have stock, because I did rank in the stock market game. But I do know now that I can buy and sell stocks very well, even though I didn't actually buy a stock. Taking finance and using it is important, because finance is everywhere you look in life."
Freshman John Stewart said, "I take finance because it teaches me how to make money, and I learned that I can work hard and make money and then make even more money by making investments, though I have to be careful with where I invest my money because not all investments make money."
Junior Wilbur Gonzalez said, "I learned that it's important not to spend more money than I have because it can affect me in the future."
³They learn about credit scores," said Silberman. "It's important that they learn that what they do today will affect them for the rest of their lives their actions early in life, mostly in college, will affect their credit for the future. For instance, something as little as not paying a bill on time can cost them thousands and thousands of dollars down the road when it comes time that they want to get a mortgage, and their credit score isn't where it could be, and the companies say, Sorry, you're not going to get the best rate on your mortgage."
Jon Degal has taken such an interest in the class that he goes home each day and talks to his father about what he learned. Now the 11th-grader is planning to open a joint investment account with Charles Schwab. "We decided to open an account with about $5,000 and exercise some stock options,² Degal said. ³[Because of this class] I learned about how to invest in certain stocks that are safer and which are less risk."
What they'll learn
Silberman said, ³Most kids don't understand how money grows by compounding interest. We talk about these things in class [as well as] stocks and bonds and savings, and I'll touch on some other things like real estate and options putting money away for retirement, CD's, car loans, investments, bonds, assets, IRAs, mortgages. A lot of people don't understand stocks and the risk associated with them, so I really push kids to understand what stocks are, what bonds are and the difference.²
Last year, as part of the school¹s business program, West Hempstead alumnus and reality-TV star Chris Russo from ³The Apprentice² came to visit and play Donald Trump in an audience-participation version of ³The Apprentice² in the school's auditorium. ³It was a two-hour competition,² said Silberman. ³It was a lot of fun. We try to be a little creative and have fun, because if the kids don't have fun, they don't work hard, if they don't work hard, they aren't learning.
³I think that our students will leave here with the foundation [of finances] to take with them and carry to the next level. I think they get enough background for when they have the money, they'll have the knowledge to know the right things to do with it.²
Comments about this story? KSalute@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
