Hawaii State Federal Credit Union (Hawaii State FCU) and HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union (HawaiiUSA FCU) announced today a joint sponsorship of Chaminade University’s Personal Finance and Economics Training Program for teachers. More than 20 K-12 educators participated in the inaugural summer workshop from July 11-15 to gain a better understanding of economics and personal finance and learn ways to effectively adopt curriculum for their specific grade levels.
“Investing in education through financial literacy programs is one of our top priorities at Hawaii State FCU because it helps to set our keiki on the trajectory for future academic and professional success,” said Andrew Rosen, president and CEO of Hawaii State FCU. “We’re proud to sponsor Chaminade University’s financial literacy pilot program for teachers and we hope that it will continue to grow and help students across the state.”
A total of 28 teachers from 15 schools participated in this year’s pilot program. All participating teachers received full scholarships to participate in the program, which were funded by Hawaii State FCU and HawaiiUSA FCU. Teachers will earn three graduate-level academic credits after completing the course, which can be used towards Department of Education (DOE) teacher reclassification. Alongside Chaminade, HawaiiUSA FCU vetted the course curriculum to ensure it meets the DOE’s rigorous requirements for professional development reclassification. HawaiiUSA FCU also created the personal finance curriculum and facilitated those topics in the workshop.
“Financial wellness is most feasible when money is discussed at a young and impressionable age,” said Greg Young, president and CEO of HawaiiUSA FCU. “That is why we have partnered with Chaminade to support the economic education initiatives they have planned for K-12 teachers. These programs are essential in shaping the next generation’s confidence towards money and personal finance."
The Personal Finance and Economics Training Program for teachers was created through Chaminade University’s Economic Education Center for Excellence (EECE), which was founded in 2021. The curriculum includes the economics and personal finance concepts based on the DOE social study standards, including topics such as opportunity cost, supply and demand, market operations, environmental economics, and the fundamentals of financial wellness. Participating teachers received access to teaching resources, including ready-to-adopt lesson plans and continuing support on how to implement lesson plans in their classrooms.
“We are very grateful to Hawaii State FCU and HawaiiUSA FCU for their generosity and support of this year’s pilot program. We hope to expand the program to work with more teachers in ultimately educating the children in Hawaii to become financially independent”, said Chaminade University President Lynn Babington, Ph.D. “The goal of this program is to provide the knowledge and skills to our next generation in helping them become financially responsible adults and contributors to Hawaii’s resilient, diverse, and just future economy.”
