Treasurer Raimondo Visits Old County Road School

R.I. General Treasurer Gina Raimondo visited Old County Road School in Smithfield to congratulate 46 elementary school students for completing an innovative pilot financial literacy program sponsored by Navigant Credit Union.

The Vault program, offered to students in grade 5 at Old County Road School, is an expansion of the EverFi financial literacy program that Navigant introduced to 12 RI high schools last year, investing $25,000 in it. The program aims to give students the basic foundations to achieve financial success later in life.

 Raimondo joined Navigant CEO Gary Furtado and student leaders from Bryant University, who helped administer the program, to give the students certificates of completion. 

“This program helps students understand how money works and the importance of making good, lifelong financial decisions,” said Raimondo, who encouraged Navigant’s partnership with the EverFi program. “I am thrilled to recognize Old County Road students for their accomplishments and am grateful to their teachers and administration for making financial empowerment a priority in the classroom.”

“We teach children reading, math and writing at an early age. There’s no reason for us to wait until they’re older before we teach them how to handle money,” said Gary Furtado, president and CEO of Navigant Credit Union. “Teaching children early how to responsibly manage their finances is the best way we can help them achieve all of their future financial goals.”

Navigant Credit Union turned to Bryant University for help administering the Vault program at Old County Road School. Enactus volunteers managed and monitored the progress of the students enrolled in the Vault program. They worked side-by-side with the children to encourage and assist them as they navigated the learning program.

“The Vault program had the right amount of interactivity and explained every concept so easily that the kids were able to pick up the lessons quickly and relate them to their everyday lives,” said Fatma Rizvan, a senior at Bryant University who served as the Enactus project leader. 

Vault contains lessons in six key financial literacy topics and includes assessments that measure student knowledge gains. Those topics include financial responsibility and decision making; income and careers, planning and money management; credit and debt, insurance and risk management; and savings and investing.

As students complete each group, they unlock a game and are invited to apply their knowledge in a variety of story-based activities. Completing the Vault program gives students a basic knowledge of financial literacy concepts to take to the next level when they participate in the EverFi program. 

“The children all did an amazing job and my volunteers saw that they had greatly expanded their financial knowledge when they completed the lessons,” Rizvan said.