On Monday, September 12, the Norton Center saw the long-awaited return of the Financial Literacy Seminar Series. The seminars incorporate many of the same topics as previous years, but will start in the fall, rather than in the winter term.
“These seminars are designed to provide Loomis Chaffee students some basic knowledge on important ‘life’ topics such as money and investing, taxes, credit cards, and the stock market,” said Director of the Norton Center Matthew Kammrath.
The series’s first seminar, hosted during the community free period, talked about Money and Inflation. Under the guidance of Mr. Kammrath, students were invited to discuss both the basics of money and the importance of savings. Furthermore, they were encouraged to ask questions and apply the lessons of the seminars into their own daily lives.
“I believe it is primordial to have a good understanding about personal finance, especially these days with high interest rates. From the first series’s presentation, I learned a lot about misconceptions surrounding money along with interest rates and inflation — pretty hot topics at the moment,” Edouard Dupont ’23 said.
The seminar participants engaged in thoughtful discussions and personalized interactions with one another, with active engagement between both the students and the faculty.
“We had the chance to do a little interactive game at the seminar, enabling us to visualize the real-life scenarios of how to effectively make decisions with money. Mr. Kammrath, who gave the presentation, is a very knowledgeable figure in the field of personal finance, so the lessons and advice that he gave were very helpful,” Andrew Dao ’24 said.
While the content of the series has remained similar throughout the years, the structure and schedule of this year’s Financial Literacy series will look slightly different.
“The Norton Center would like to run four to five seminars per term. [Each time] we plan to offer one session during community time and a second session that same evening from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,” Mr. Kammrath said. “I appreciate that the school is trying to accommodate students’ busy schedules, which in turn enables them to explore more areas of knowledge outside of ordinary classrooms,” Eric Sun ’23 said. “This is absolutely essential in a world where financial skills are becoming ever more important.”
Mr. Kammrath was the first speaker of the Financial Literacy Series, guiding the lectures and discussions. In upcoming seminars, students will hear from outside speakers, specifically professionals and leaders in the field of finance. “We are still sorting through the speakers for the program, as those are geared for the spring term,” Mr. Kammrath said, who hopes the program will continue to be an instrumental outlet in students’ financial education over the school year.