Mr. Monoski: How I became a teacher is, I wanted to be able to make a mark on the world. I wanted to help people. So I went back to school for another two years and got my teaching degree and, low and behold, here I am in Montgomery and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
TITLE CARD TEXT: Ryan Monoski is one of 732 teachers in the U.S. introducing middle and high school students to the world of investing through the SIFMA Foundation's Capitol Hill Challenge.
Mr. Monoski: The importance of financial literacy cannot be understated. Financial literacy is something that every student in this country needs to understand, and learn, and master. I don't care if you're making minimum wage or if you're making five hundred thousand dollars a year. It's not all about how much money you make. It is more about how you invest and save the money you do earn.
Mr. Monoski: It's very hard to keep kid's attention when you're teaching. I personally approach teaching with the idea of being very interactive, being personable. When I come to work, I don't come to work. I go see my second family. And that's not just a saying, it's the truth. I live by it.
Mr. Monoski: Capital Hill Challenge gave me, as a teacher, an opportunity to see a side of students I don't normally see. When you open a book, it can get stale. But this is a fluid situation in learning. These students, they are getting involved, and they're competing, and they want to be better. So they want to prove that our little school can be just as good as any school in the country. They come up and ask me for information, which is a nice change, instead of me always having to dictate to them what they need to learn.
Mr. Monoski: At the end of my career, I would like to think that I've touched many lives. Students who didn't know what they wanted to do with their life, all of a sudden come up to me and say, "Mr. Monoski, I'm going to be a finance major because of this program, because of what you've done." And there is nothing more powerful than a student telling you that you made an impact on their life that you know is going to affect their own children someday, even their great grandchildren. So it's pretty powerful stuff.
TITLE CARD TEXT: Charles Schwab Foundation has committed $1 Million over three years to advance financial capability and civics through the SIFMA Foundation's Capitol Hill Challenge.