Courtesy photos
ADDING UP TO SUCCESS
Members of the business community volunteer at this year’s Credit for Life Fair to teach high-schoolers the basics of financial management.
CREDIT FOR LIFE PREPARES STUDENTS FOR A FUTURE OF FINANCIAL WELLNESS
By Ellen Small Davis Impact contributor
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ow do you pay your portion of the rent and utilities, purchase a monthly train pass, make a payment on student loans, buy a gym membership and still have enough money to treat yourself to that morning mocha latte with oat milk? Nearly 1,000 juniors from 13 high schools across the North Shore discovered the answer to that question at the 12th annual Credit for Life Fair this May at Masconomet Regional High School in Boxford. The free Credit for Life program is an interactive experience organized and underwritten by the Institution for Savings. Its goal is to help the region’s high school students develop lifelong personal budgeting skills to survive financially in the everyday world, according to
Mary Anne Clancy, the bank’s senior vice president of marketing and communications and the architect of the program. “We were seeing young customers who didn’t know how to manage their money, apply for a loan or understand the costs associated with applying for a mortgage,” Clancy says. “This was a good role for the bank to play. We are creating a better bank customer.” The program was first created in partnership with Ipswich, Triton Regional and Newburyport high schools. In recent years, they have been joined by Beverly, Swampscott, Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester Essex, Hamilton-Wenham, Masconomet, Amesbury, Pentucket Regional and Georgetown high schools. Massachusetts may be at the top of nationwide rankings for education, but IMPACT MAGAZINE
