Irmo elementary school teacher recognized…
by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina state treasurer Curtis Loftis is continuing his campaign to encourage better spending decisions among future generations of Palmetto State citizens – honoring a Midlands educator for her efforts to bring “financial literacy to life” in her classroom.
Loftis recently honored Andrea McKnight of Irmo, S.C. – a teacher at H.E. Corley Elementary School in northwest Columbia – as “Educator of the Month,” an award presented by his office’s financial literacy program.
Part of the highly acclaimed S.C. Future Scholar 529 college savings program, Loftis’ financial literacy campaign endeavors to help students “learn about smart money habits.” It also aims to “increase educators’ confidence in teaching financial literacy content by equipping them with the tools and resources they need to incorporate personal finance into their curriculum.”
“Helping our youngest students learn that basics of money – from needs versus wants to the importance of saving, these are vital building blocks they will use throughout their life,” Loftis said in a statement announcing McKnight’s honor. “I congratulate long-time educator Andrea McKnight of Irmo for her commitment to sharing these important lessons in her classroom. And I remain grateful for all the master teachers who have taken the challenge to boost their knowledge and skills to better equip their students with financial literacy.”
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Entering is sixth year, Future Scholars’ Master Teacher Program “provides incentives for K-12 teachers who are passionate about financial literacy education and have a desire to teach professional development workshops to other educators in their school, district, or at state educator conferences.”
The goal of the program is to “increase the number of South Carolina students receiving high quality personal finance instruction,” per the Future Scholars’ website.
The program has provided “specialized training and free personal finance curriculum resources that better enable them to promote financial literacy education in K-12 schools.”
Future Scholars sponsors the program in collaboration with SC Economics, a statewide nonprofit which is “exclusively dedicated to improving economic and personal finance education by helping K-12 teachers to teach and engage their students to be active, successful, and prosperous members of our global economy.”
According to McKnight, the program gives students a critical head start on one of the most important lessons they can learn.
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“Teaching personal finance lessons to elementary students has been an incredible experience, and I believe having this knowledge early in life and continuing to build upon it is important,” McKnight said. “I am thrilled for the opportunities my own daughters are experiencing in high school and college that will enable them to be more prepared to make better financial decisions. I wish I had the chance to become financially literate at a young age like my daughters.”
McKnight has nearly a quarter century of teaching experience. She is a National Board-certified teacher and previously taught first and second grades prior to transitioning into her current role as a reading interventionist at H.E. Corley. She is married with two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys boating on Lake Murray with family, traveling, gardening, and reading.
For the past two decades, Future Scholars has provided “numerous benefits such as tax advantages, investment options and flexibility of use that enable families to save for their children’s educational goals.” Recent changes at the federal level have expanded the number of qualified uses for 529 funds, making it even more flexible for families to support a lifetime of learning. For more information, visit FutureScholar.com or follow @SCStateTreasurer on Facebook.
Future Scholar is self-supported and does not receive taxpayer funding.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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