Regions Bank 2013 Annual Report Download - page 9

IT’S COMMUNITY-
FOCUSED
Setting goals, making good choices and doing your
homework – those are great guidelines, not only for high
school success but also for making sound financial
decisions throughout life. At Atlanta’s historic Booker T.
Washington High School, Dr. Malaika Syphertt’s students in
the Regions Financial Scholars program are gaining a wealth
of personal finance knowledge through their engagement
with the Regions-sponsored Financial Education program
developed by EverFi.
The online learning platform leverages leading-edge
technology from EverFi like 3-D gaming, videos, avatars
and social networking to bring complex financial concepts
to life for the wired generation. Regions is proud to provide
support for its deployment at high schools and colleges in
eight states of Regions’ footprint. So far in the 2013–14 school
year, more than 3,000 high school and university students
have been certified in the Financial Education program.
“The online program is extremely effective, and I use it to
supplement my classroom instruction,” said Dr. Syphertt.
“It’s good for differentiation and individualized work, and
my students are constantly being assessed before they
go on to the next module. It’s awesome because they can
do it in class, they can do it at home, they can do it on their
smartphones or electronic devices, and it is really exciting
and they all love it.”
Senior Kadeeja Taylor is one of the many Washington High
students benefiting from the program. Kadeeja, who hopes
to attend Emory University, observed, “My favorite topic
was budgeting, because I know in college you don’t have
an excess amount of money to spend. I think this will help
me be able to budget and actually make it through college
and not have to struggle.”
Dr. Syphertt says it’s rewarding to know the benefits to
these students can last a lifetime. “It’s very important that
they understand financial terminology before they make
mistakes like getting into bad debt or making bad financial
decisions. They’re learning that they should start saving
now and establishing themselves financially in terms of
credit and savings. It’s just beautiful to see them grow and
develop into successful citizens.”
Dr. Malaika Syphertt, with student Elizabeth Ushi
Teacher and 12th Grade Team Leader
Booker T. Washington High School, Atlanta, Georgia
REGIONS 2013 YEAR IN REVIEW 7
“Financial literacy is
very important for these
students because they’re
about to graduate and
enter adulthood. The
Financial Education
program that Regions
supports is extremely
effective in providing them
the information they need
to be successful in life.”