High school students on both coasts learn about credit and how to save for college education

Consumer Action’s trainers Sol Carbonell and Nelson Santiago participated in the 2009 Ready to Lead (R2L) workshops organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Los Angeles, California and Miami, Florida.

The events gathered more than 300 young adults at Occidental College and Miami-Dade College for a day of college planning and leadership development. During their presentations, Carbonell and Santiago engaged students using the Talking to Teens about Money module from the MoneyWi$e series. Trainers provided an overview of why credit is important and led a discussion on managing money effectively with a spending plan and borrowing for college, among other teen money topics.

Working in groups, students offered tips on how to cut down their expenses and developed a social marketing campaign with creative slogans to encourage their peers at school to save and spend responsibly. They also debated on whether credit cards were a need vs. a want during college and learned about comparison-shopping to get the best deals.

Actor Wilmer Valderrama, official spokesperson for the R2L program, provided inspirational remarks at both trainings to motivate students to pursue their dreams.

Congressional representatives also attended the event. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress and a graduate of Miami Dade College, spoke to the attentive students in Miami and offered her views on leadership and education.

For more on Ready to Lead, visit www.chci.org/ready_to_lead.