Can You Hear It?

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

We keep the door locked to ensure our safety and the classroom then becomes a place where accomplishments can grow. These high school students eagerly work on Computer Application projects that include Excel and PowerPoint advanced functions. Many of them do not have computers at home and value the class experience more than most of us can imagine. Without this access and knowledge of computer applications many of them would not be able to be successful at college or in the work force.

Every class has a teenage parent or even a gang member, but when they enter my classroom they are merely a child seeking guidance. The topic of personal finance hits them at the core of their existence. It amazes me that the concepts of earnings, debts and savings can be like learning a foreign language for them. For many of the foreign students in this district it is a foreign language. The countries that they have recently immigrated from do not use the same strategies of finance. These students have very little financial stability to discuss, yet they learn to make better financial choices to help their futures grow and the possibilities expand. College can be affordable and is a necessity in our global economy.

I have spent many hours video taping shows to present various financial topics, but the television that is available is so old and the speakers are so poor that the students have to gather around the television and they can barely hear it! Many of these shows bring reality to the topics that I am presenting. For example, "Til Debt Do Us Part" is a wonderful show that examines the fact that the large majority of divorce stems from financial problems. Many of the students relate to this first hand and want to avoid these pitfalls in their own romantic endeavors. Additional shows like "The Suze Orman Show" and "The Shark Tank" offer financial advice on savings and starting your own business. I would also like to guide them through shows like, "My First Rental" and searching for "My First Place."

We have all sat in a classroom and asked, "When am I going to use this?" I am fortunate to teach business courses that transcend that undying question. A television and a VCR/DVD player can link many of these topics to real life scenarios for some students that have never left the town where they were born. And even the immigrants live a relatively sheltered lifestyle due to the lack of financial means. Please help the students become more engaged with learning and open the door to the outside world through the media that is available to so many other more fortunate children.