SALISBURY – A Wicomico County teacher has been awarded a statewide honor for her efforts to incorporate financial literacy lessons in the classroom.
Emily Shank, a family and consumer science teacher at Pittsville Elementary and Middle School and Bennett Middle School, was honored as the Outstanding Teacher in Middle School for the entire state of Maryland by the CASH Campaign’s Financial Education and Capability Awards Program, which highlights the dedication and success of public school teachers and others who teach financial management concepts and behaviors including budgeting, careers and income, financial decision making and more.
She was chosen for her outstanding efforts to improve the financial capability of students in Maryland.
Shank said her class covers food and nutrition, sewing, personal development and financial literacy.
“In sixth grade the students learn about credit vs debit, student loans, better shopping practices, and personal finance on a computer program called EverFi,” she said. “In seventh grade they learn about becoming an entrepreneur and how to finance your own business on EverFi. In eighth grade we do Junior Achievement Economics for Success.”
School officials said Shank is the only middle school teacher in Wicomico County Public Schools to offer her family and consumer science students a Junior Achievement (JA) program.
“Right now family and consumer sciences is the only content area that teaches financial literacy as its own unit,” she said. “As a department we understand how essential it is to prepare our students for their future. I was the only teacher in middle school who was offered the opportunity to teach Junior Achievement this year. Also, the high school family and consumer sciences teachers do a different JA program, so the middle school program better prepares them for high school.”
Shank said the program teaches students the skills needed to make smart financial decisions.
“These lessons are important because it makes them start to think about their future,” she said. “It also gives them a more realistic view of how the world works when it comes to finances.”
Shank said she was nominated by her supervisor and chosen by a committee from the CASH Campaign of Maryland, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic advancement for low-to-moderate income individuals and families across Maryland, prior to receiving the award.
“I initially was shocked because I didn’t even know that I had been nominated,” she said. “After going to the ceremony, I was very proud for myself and my county to be part of a statewide award.”
Shank said she also received citations and resolutions from both the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates.
“The House of Delegates representative and the Senate representative were also very proud for our county and for me,” she said. “They both told me that it is exciting when someone gets presented on the floor that is from their county because they do not often get to see people from their county. This was a great honor and I hope that my department continues to get recognition for teaching financial literacy because it is such an important unit for students to learn.”
Shank received a $1,000 financial award for being selected on behalf of the CASH Campaign of Maryland, Maryland Council on Economic Education, and the Maryland State Department of Education. She said she will also be recognized at a Maryland Council on Economic Education awards luncheon next month.
