Financial literacy class at Arcadia middle school teaches students about savings, taxes, debt

ARCADIA, Calif. (KABC) -- Arcadia's Barnhart School offers its eighth-grade students a financial literacy class that educates them about savings, taxes, debt and investments.

"A lot of times we offer classes and kids don't see the relevance in it," the head of the school, Tim Spurrier, said in an interview. "Here, I think what they're going to see is, they're going to see something that's going to help them for the rest of their lives."

"It just kind of interests me because, like, I don't know how to invest right now but if I could, how much money I could make?" said student Elijah.

Making money, saving money -- the students understand that the sooner they figure it out, the better.

"It'll, like, help me have, like, a better, like, more successful life," eighth-grader Triya said. "I wouldn't, like, be struggling with money."

The school created the class to help better prepare students for a fast-changing world, and finance is a big part of it.

"The kids are going to learn five important things about finance," said business coach and finance educator Gautam Godse. "The first one is: What is money? That is very important. You need to understand what money is because now, with crypto, the definition of money is also changing."