Students in Dean Streyle’s Class Are Learning The…

By SARA KINCAID

Students in Dean Streyle’s class are learning the finesse of finance in their career education class.

"Hopefully, it helps. There are a lot of things out there that are not a good idea of what to do," with finances, Streyle said.

The quarterlong class expanded to a semester class after the district dropped the behind-the wheel portion of driver’s education.

Balancing a checkbook, making a budget, making investments and understanding taxes are among the topics covered in class. They’ll also spend some time on credit cards, so they are prepared when they are confronted with credit card offers in a few years.

When the class was a quarter long, or nine weeks, they focused more on career exploration, Wachter Middle School teacher Adele Gabriel said. Now career exploration is expanded to consider planning for classes in high school and college.

"Most significant is that they plan courses they are going to take based on career clusters, not on what fits in their schedule or what class their friends are in," Wachter teacher Sherry Yancy said.

The career education class is taught to all ninth-graders in Bismarck middle schools. They use a computer program, Career Explorer, and a workbook written by the National Endowment for Financial Education to teach the main concepts. They supplement with Web sites and guest speakers.

"We talk to kids about money before they have money," Yancy said. At ninth grade, some students are about to begin after school or summer jobs.

On Wednesday, Streyle’s class at Wachter was finishing PowerPoint presentations on different types of investments. Each group of two to three students was given stocks, money markets, savings accounts or another type of investment to present to the class later in the week.

Jake Schneider, Oliver Boeckel and Jacy O’Keefe worked on a presentation about savings and checking accounts. The class exceeded their expectations.

"I thought it would be boring and lame," Jake said. "It’s a lot better."

Oliver gives credit to the teacher for making it interesting.

Earlier in the semester, they did career reports. Jake’s was on a dentist, Oliver’s was on an industrial designer – "It’s like an engineer," he said – and Jacy’s report was on oncology.

Beside the basic information, like salaries, it gave them ideas what classes they might want to consider in high school. Jacy wants to know more about a career education classes at Bismarck High School for medical professions, she said.

The loss of the behind-the-wheel class hasn’t kept the students from getting their driver’s license. Jake, who is 15, has had his a few months now; Jacy, who is 16, just got hers, and Oliver, who is 15, plans to get his in the next week. Jake did driver’s training through AAA; Oliver took it through a private company, and Jacy didn’t need to do it because she had her permit long enough to not take it.

In the next two years, the district plans to make a curriculum for career education so that how it is taught in one class is the same as in another class. The teachers currently have the same materials, but their access to computer labs can vary how they implement some of the activities.

The teachers hope to get computers dedicated to the classes, and the next year they will work on curriculum.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@bismarcktribune.com.) Students learning of dollars and sense

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