Fifth Third Bank Georgia is expanding the sponsorship of Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance course in the Savannah Chatham County Public School System for the 2015-2016 school year. After successfully sponsoring the program at Beach High, Groves High, Jenkins High, Johnson High, Woodville Tompkins, and Savannah High during the 2014-2015 school year, Fifth Third Bank Georgia is providing the funding to expand the program and reach more students during the upcoming school year. The bank will sponsor the course for an additional four schools on top of the six from last year. The additional schools include Islands High, Savannah Arts, New Hampstead, and Windsor Forest High.

This year marks the fifth consecutive year that Fifth Third Bank has sponsored Foundations in Personal Finance. Since 2010, the Bank has helped educate more than 600,000 students across the bank’s footprint. In the current fall 2015 semester, Fifth Third expects that more than 140,000 students will take the course in the Midwest and Southeast and more than 600 students in Savannah. “The students enjoyed the applicable life situations and were able to create both long term and short term financial goals,” said Beach High School teacher, Monica Daughtry.

“Fifth Third Bank is committed to improving lives in the communities we serve,” said Chris Kirkpatrick, Savannah Region President, Fifth Third Bank Georgia. “Here in Savannah we have made a concerted effort to provide our workforce the necessary skills to be successful gaining employment with our ever growing local economy.  We have world class organizations, excellent public school offerings and quality universities in place to make that a reality for Savannah.”

“Being the curious bank, we asked ourselves, how can we help that mission? We decided to help our future workforce learn the financial skills enabling them to handle their personal finances once they are part of the great workforce we have here in Savannah. We sponsor Dave Ramsey’s course at an important juncture—as these teens embark on first jobs, college planning and expenditures independent of their parents. We know that Foundations is a great course that will teach students how to avoid debt, save deliberately and spend wisely,” Kirkpatrick added.  

Foundations in Personal Finance is a comprehensive, flexible and turn-key personal finance curriculum. It is designed to be taught by the teacher in school, aided by video lessons from Dave Ramsey and his team of experts. It has been recently updated and features a blended learning site with calculators, tools and resources, a new 504-question TestGen® computerized test bank, a brand new print and digital teachers’ guide and four new chapters. The program also includes 100+ classroom activities focused on providing 21st century personal finance knowledge and skills in a student-centered, competency-based approach to learning. Foundations in Personal Finance is presented in 12 chapters, divided into four units: Saving and Budgeting; Credit and Debt; Financial Planning and Insurance; and Income, Taxes and Giving.

The program has been in place in Savannah Chatham Public Schools since 2014 and adds to the rich learning experiences offered in the classroom.  Students are challenged with rigorous academic expectations and the teachings of the program add an enriched element to the advancement of problem solving and critical thinking skills.  The combination of personal finance with mathematical lesson plans is an effective process that blends instruction and real world scenarios to create relevant experiences for students.  “Community partners can make a real difference in education,” said Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Ann Levett.  “We are thankful for the commitment from Fifth Third Bank and look forward to another successful school year where students gain the benefit of high quality learning experiences that prepare them for the next step in college or a career.”