An intriguing part of the curriculum that NAF has created is the ability for the students to take on the role of various financial services that are offered.   It is so exciting to see the students learn a new topic and then apply it to a real life situation.   For example, one of the lessons teaches about investment portfolios.   Students work together in groups and create an investment portfolio for a specific client that they were assigned.   Each group has a scenario, which would create different portfolios for each scenario.  

  While I was teaching this lesson I did not expect to get a big reaction out of the students; however, quite a few of the students started a discussion about how “cool” it was to be somebody important and make decisions for somebody’s future.   That is why it is extremely useful to use the curriculum, because the student’s receive endless opportunities to expand their knowledge of financial services, and they get a little taste of a variety of fields that they could go into as careers.  

Al l of our Academy students are preparing for their internships.   My school completes their internship throughout the summer before senior year.   Individually teachers can prepare students for what is to be expected at their internship.   However, another useful aid is the NAF curriculum.   The new curriculum offers a wide variety of implementation of internship preparation opportunities throughout individual lessons.   While teaching the lesson you need to take those “teachable moments” and use them to the student’s advantage.   Take a minute during the lesson and show how the activity, terminology, and/or concepts can be applied to the work place.   The students get actively engaged during these times because they are anxiously waiting for their internship to happen.   A “real job that pays”, is what I constantly hear from the students.  

On the other hand, when the students complete their internship you can infuse their internship experience with each lesson.   This gives the students a great opportunity to apply the knowledge learned during their internship to the material that is being taught in each lesson.   I teach both juniors and seniors, which gives me the opportunity to see both sides of the internship.   The new curriculum adds this wonderful feature to each lesson; you just need to seize the moment.