Smithtown High Schools Earn Stars for Financial Literacy

Both high schools in the Smithtown Central School District have been named Blue Star Schools for financial literacy by the national organization W!SE, also known as Working in Support of Education.

Smithtown High School East and Smithtown High School West earned Blue Star status by testing 10 or more students who achieved a 75 percent passing rate on the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test during the 2013-14 school year. Blue Star Schools are also celebrated for having a majority of students on a given grade level take the exam or achieve an average score of 80 percent or higher among those tested overall.

“This is no small feat,” said W!SE Executive Vice President David Anderson. “We are equally proud of those teachers who helped [students] become certified financially literate.”

He added that teachers who encourage their students to take the exam are providing vital knowledge and tools on managing their own personal finances that will aid them greatly into young adulthood.

Developed in 2003, the Blue Star program has received national recognition for its successes in promoting financial literacy among the country’s youth, including the U.S. Treasury Department’s John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education.

Blue Star Schools will be honored at the W!SE MoneyPOWER Conference in New York City on Nov. 4. Both HSE and HSW will be awarded a Blue Star banner for this recognition.

“I am truly proud of our School of Business students’ accomplishments and equally proud of our teachers, whose hard work and dedication allowed us to be a 2013-2014 Blue Star School,” said Dianne Elmore, Smithtown CSD career and technology education chairperson.