Credit for Life Fair at Lynn English High School

Credit for Life Fair Additional Resources

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You dedicated your time and completed the Credit for Life Fair and learned real-life money management and budgeting skills. Bravo! Now, commit to keep the momentum going and continue to learn about budgeting, finances, and how you can position yourself for success in the future...starting now!

Credit for Life Money Modules

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In the News

14th Annual Credit for Life Fair
hosted by the Institution for Savings

WCVB: Rent, insurance, budgets: North Shore
high schoolers get crash course in 'adulting'

Published May 23, 2024

Institution for Savings holding Credit for Life Fairs in Lynn
Nov 10, 2024

(reprinted from The Daily News (Newburyport)

NEWBURYPORT — Thanks in part to a Financial Education Innovation Fund Grant from the Massachusetts Office of Economic Empowerment, Lynn high school juniors will get a crash course in managing their money when they participate in Lynn’s first-ever Credit for Life fairs later this month. The goal? To help students develop personal budgeting skills that they will use throughout their lives before they leave high school.

The schools have teamed up with community bank Institution for Savings, headquartered in Newburyport, to assist them in hosting two Credit for Life fairs this month. On Thursday, Nov. 14, Lynn Classical will hold its fair in conjunction with Lynn Vocational Technical Institution. On Monday, Nov. 18, Lynn English High will host a similar fair for its juniors as well as juniors from Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy and Fecteau-Leary juniors.

Using the bank’s Credit for Life website (creditforlife.org), students will create profiles on their mobile devices and chose professions. Then using the website and their devices, they will visit 14 booths and purchase everything they would need to live as 25-year-olds using their monthly paycheck, savings account and/or a credit card. Booths include housing, transportation, furniture, utilities, food and nutrition, and more.

“The goal of the fair is to help empower students to be proactive about their financial futures by beginning to develop sound personal finance habits,” Institution for Savings President and CEO Michael J. Jones said. “Each year we hear from parents, guardians, volunteers and teachers after the event that they wish this had been around when they were in school! We are glad to assist the Lynn Public Schools with these important events – it is invaluable to these students and is something they will use throughout their lives.”

Creditforlife.org was the result of a 2020 collaboration between seven of Massachusetts’ leading banks that in addition to Institution for Savings, included Cape Code Five, Rockland Trust, Harbor One, BayCoast Bank, Country Bank, Westfield Bank and The Savings Bank. The banks, along with non-profit FitMoney, pooled financial and informational resources to develop the online site which to date has been used by tens of thousands of students throughout Massachusetts and beyond. The site has been improved each year and includes translation to Spanish and Portuguese.

The Office of Economic Empowerment, a division of the Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office, provides annual grants in conjunction with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and the Division of Banks, for Massachusetts high schools and special education programs to offer Credit for Life fairs for their students. Lynn received a $6,900 grant which will be used towards equipment, set up and materials for the fairs, with the Institution for Savings providing the signage, set-up, student orientations, training, volunteers and more.

More than 100 community volunteers will be assisting at the two Lynn events and include chamber heads, certified public accountants, attorneys, non-profit leaders, business professionals and more, along with the bank’s own employees. The group also includes Lynn city councilors, along with city hall and school department employees. Lynn police and school resource officers will also be volunteering at the Safety and Security booth.

Lynn Public Schools Assistant Director of Curriculum for History Kristen Tabacco said the district was thrilled to partner with the Institution for Savings to bring the program to students.

“Many students in America begin working and earning income as early as middle school, yet they are usually not taught how to manage their money. Credit for Life teaches high school students how to make the type of financial choices and decisions they will need to make throughout their lives, but right now while they are still in school. We are hopeful that our young people will use this knowledge to put themselves on a path to a better financial future for themselves and their families thanks to their financial education in LPS,” Tabacco said.

The Institution for Savings, who will host its 16th annual Credit for Life next spring at Salem State University spring for 14 other North Shore high schools, regularly gets high marks annually from the schools, parents and volunteers, many of the latter who come back every year to participate.

“The level to which the bank has taken this event is outstanding and unequaled by any other event I have attended,” said Rodi Adema, FDIC field supervisor, who has volunteered at the fair for multiple years.