Award-Winning Financial Literacy Program to Help Mountain Heritage High School Students Invest in Their Futures
San Francisco, CA - May 11, 2009 - Visa Inc. announced today the donation
of a new mobile computer lab to Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville,
North Carolina. The 10 Apple iMacs being given to the school are laptops, which
allow students and teachers to use them throughout the school. The laptops are
also loaded with Visa’s award-winning financial education program, Practical
Money Skills for Life.
U.S. Representative Heath Shuler (NC-11) joined Visa as a special guest at
today’s announcement at Mountain Heritage High School, which included a
demonstration of the Practical Money Skills for Life program by Mountain
Heritage students.
“Financial illiteracy is a serious problem facing our nation and the most effective
way to combat it is to ensure that parents, schools, government and the private
sector form a united front in this effort,” said Congressman Shuler. “I want to
thank Visa for giving students in my District access to this money-management
program and new computers that will help give them a roadmap to financial
success.”
“It is important that financial education begins early in life, and we are grateful
to be receiving this new mobile computer lab from Visa and access to their
Practical Money Skills for Life program,” said Mountain Heritage High School
Principal Patricia R. Bennett. “I know that our teachers and students will benefit
from Visa’s generosity and expertise.”
As part of its ongoing outreach efforts to promote early and continuous financial
education, since 2000, Visa has helped to bridge the digital divide by donating
computers to high schools around the country and providing schools with the
Practical Money Skills for Life curriculum. In addition, Visa has provided teacher
training on the program so that educators can maximize the program’s many
valuable resources and benefits.
“An important part of Visa’s commitment to financial education is focused on
young people because it is critical that students understand financial basics
before graduating high school,” said Denise Dunckel, Senior Business Leader,
Visa Inc. “Visa is proud to be working with leaders like Congressman Shuler in
their efforts to help ensure that students in North Carolina are prepared to make
wise financial decisions throughout their life.”
Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) is a free program
that is available in English, Spanish and Chinese. It contains three
comprehensive sections, complete with money management resources and
lesson plans tailored for use at home, in the classroom or at work.
It also contains an array of tips to help prepare for life changing financial events,
from planning for a baby to saving for college and retirement, as well as a
number of other budget calculators and interactive games. Visa also runs What's
My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer
awareness program. The Web site guides college students through the ABC's of a
FICO credit score, from factors that can lower a score to ways on improving it, at
no charge.
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network
providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes
consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered
under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys
unsurpassed acceptance around the world, and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's
largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than
170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
Contact: Steve Burke, CRC Public Relations, Tel: +1 703-683-5004, ext. 108
