Mrs. Hoffman was honored earlier this spring at the Business and Marketing Educators Association of the Capital District dinner and ceremony on May 1, where she won the award for Business Teacher of the Year.
In addition to this recognition, Mrs. Hoffman’s Personal Finance Course students once again competed in the ten-week-long Budget Challenge simulation against students and other classes from all over the country. In this particular game, there were a total of 102 teams nationwide. The 4th period class ended in 5th place and the 7th period class ended at 15th place out of the 102 teams!
TCT Federal Credit Union has partnered with Lake George School for the past three years, sponsoring cash prizes for the top two students in each class. The winners from two classes this year were Rachael Evanek and Sophia Kassal (1st place) and Madison O’Reilly and Emma Dickinson (2nd place). The simulation required students to manage paychecks, pay bills on time, manage a credit card, invest in a company’s 401k plan, and weather “life events” such as an automobile accident.
“The Budget Challenge Simulation has proven to be a very effective tool in helping students learn about personal finance in a very hands-on and realistic way,” said Hoffman.
Students learned about loans, credit card utilization, the importance of paying bills on time, paying debt off early, the importance of starting investing early, and how to understand various types of insurance. This “real life” simulation required students to be especially mindful of things like due dates, even during school breaks. Life doesn’t stop just because we are on vacation!
The feedback from students was positive, with many students stating this simulation made them feel more prepared to handle their own finances after completing the competition and the course.