MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Credit union officials, educators and family members recently assembled here to hear how eight middle-school students view the importance of financial education and the influence it exerts in helping adults to successfully manage their finances.
The eight students, all chosen as winners of the annual Massachusetts Credit Union Student Essay Contest, were being honored for their words of insight and wisdom, in addition to their mastery of the subject matter, grammar and punctuation.
This year’s contest, sponsored by the Cooperative Credit Union Association, saw its President/CEO Paul Gentile welcome the statewide winners and their guests to the recognition luncheon.
This year, the essay topic was “Save. Spend. Share. Learn. What could you teach an adult to form better savings and spending habits? Please provide practical advice to adopt sound plans and to avoid poor behavior.”
While all students noted the importance of budgeting in their essays, each addressed a distinct aspect of planning for the future, such as the importance of paying off credit card balances monthly, distinguishing between wants and needs, tracking expenses, setting long-term savings goals, and preparing for retirement.
The consensus of the contestants was that financial literacy is part of a life lesson; all the decisions you make now lead to how well you do in life.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karen Polito took time to applaud the students by providing each with gubernatorial citations. In addition, lawmakers in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate representing each student’s home town praised their student constituents with personal messages and legislative citations. Students also received an award certificate from CCUA as part of the ceremony.
Allison Sciarratta, an 8th-grader from Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, placed first in the contest with her essay. Sciarratta was sponsored by the Metro-Boston Chapter and Naveo Credit Union.