Greencastle teen takes top prize for ‘Students Teaching Finance’
GREENCASTLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — A Greencastle teenager is one of five grand prize winners in New Jersey-based Prudential Financial’s (NYSE: PRU) Emerging Visionaries program. Isaac Hertenstein, 16, earned a total of $15,000 for his Students Teaching Finance initiative, in which high schoolers teach K-8 students about financial literacy.
The Emerging Visionaries program recognizes students ages 14-18 from throughout the country for “leading initiatives that result in fresh, innovative solutions to current-day financial and societal changes.”
Hertenstein started his initiative in 2020 in response to what he says were the financial discrepancies in his community. He says he was inspired after his mother, a teacher, told him nearly 50% of her students were on free or reduced lunch.
“Since that fateful fall night, I’ve read voraciously about economic inequality – and methods to address it. Shortly after researching youth financial literacy education, I combined my interests and laid the foundation of STF by meeting with community leaders,” said Hertenstein. “Support from my community, as well as the prevalent need for financial literacy in it, demonstrated the potential of STF to me. STF was not launched because of a school service requirement, but from a genuine interest in diminishing economic inequities – an issue that hits close to home.”
He partnered with community and school leaders to develop the curriculum, which includes topics on compound interest, needs versus wants, and diverse careers. A Students Teaching Finance website was also created to provide the curriculum around the world.
To date, Students Teaching Finance has provided lessons to more than 325 students.
Hertenstein was named a winner of the Emerging Visionaries program in February, which earned him a $5,000 prize. He was awarded an additional $10,000 as one of the grand prize winners this week at Prudential’s headquarters in New Jersey.
You can learn more about Students Teaching Finance by clicking here.