From the Classroom to Financial Independence
Root 2 Rise Tutor-Mentors lead in K-5 classrooms and earn a stipend for their work. For most, it's their first compensated role and the start of a longer journey toward financial independence.
Formal financial education isn't something that's been readily available to many of the high school students we work with — and it’s not because it isn’t a priority, it’s because access to financial institutions and education hasn't always been within reach. That's part of what R2R is designed to address.
As part of the program, Tutor-Mentors who don't already have a bank account open one to receive their stipend. From there, financial literacy instruction gives students the knowledge to use what they earn, because earning money and knowing what to do with it are two different skills.
This year at Reynolds Learning Academy in Portland, Lori Williams led those workshops. Williams is a Financial Education Specialist at Unitus Credit Union with 36 years in financial education.
And that's exactly what R2R is creating the conditions for: long-term wellbeing and economic mobility for every student who comes through the program.
Williams came to Reynolds twice, in November and January, and students showed up ready to learn both times. The fall session covered mobile banking, budgeting, and interest rates. Every student left with a savings account open. "The stipend that R2R students earn is often their first step toward building workforce readiness,” Williams said. "It's important to talk about our behaviors and relationship with money. The students' financial education benefits the entire community.”
January’s session went further: taxes, credit scores, saving, investing, and retirement. For older generations that grew up in a pay-cash culture, where purchases got delayed if the money wasn't there, today's financial landscape looks very different. Williams understands that contrast. Her workshops meet students where they are, in a credit-oriented world with constant pressure to spend, driven by social media, advertising, and peers.
On emotional spending, she didn't tell students to stop. Spending is connected to real things, including socializing and building community. The goal is to recognize the pull and set limits before those limits get set for you. Start a 401K at 18, build credit before you need a co-signer, understand compound interest before it works against you.
