Basking Ridge Resident 'Partners Up' To Bring Financial Literacy To School Group

Immaculate Conception High School (ICHS) students were recently fortunate to participate in a Financial Literacy Workshop sponsored by Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA), Junior Achievement of NJ and Goldman Sachs Community TeamWorks.  All three organizations have a long history of community service.  Student/Partner Alliance  (S/PA) provides scholarship tuition assistance and mentoring to high school students in the Greater Newark area so that they can attend private schools in their neighborhoods.  S/PA currently supports 24 ICHS students with scholarships and mentoring.  Over the past 20 years, S/PA has supported over 1,650 scholarships at schools in Essex, Hudson and Union counties. 

This workshop was an initiative from two S/PA board members, Ms. Peggy Gallagher, also a Junior Achievement (JA) of NJ Board Member and Ms. Lydia Muller, whose husband Eric works for Goldman Sachs. Mr. Muller gathered a group of Goldman Sachs employees who volunteered for a day to teach the Financial Literacy Workshop to the students, using curriculum designed by JA.  The Community Teamworks events are sponsored by Goldman Sachs and enable their employees to donate their time and talent to non-profit organizations throughout the NY metro area.  Eric and Lydia are S/PA Partners who mentor ICHS students.

To learn more about Student/Partner Alliance, call 908.522.0405. 

Goldman Sachs Community Teamworks’ volunteers taught the ICHS students about the importance of financial literacy and how they can apply these rules to college and life. Students learned about budgeting, thinking about future, credit, financial institutions, and saving.  The Goldman Sachs volunteers stressed that knowledge of these topics are crucial for making financial aid decisions for college.  The volunteers also shared their own personal stories and experiences.  They emphasized that education is tied to power.

ICHS students learned much from this workshop.   Destinee Rodriguez, a junior and a S/PA scholarship recipient, remarked, “It was helpful for the future.  The budgeting part was awesome”.

The curriculum used in the workshop was provided by Junior Achievement of NJ and is taught to thousands of NJ youth every year.  Students participated in three lessons during the workshop: “Plan to Learn”; “Saving for Life”; and “Budget Game”.  A delicious and healthy lunch was provided by the Food Service Training Academy of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, yet another important NJ non-profit organization!