NEW YORK, N.Y. – Working in Support of Education (w!se), a New York City-based, national educational nonprofit, today announced the 2016 “100 Best w!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance” at a ceremony sponsored by Voya Financial®. Earning first place for the second time is New York City’s High School of Math, Science and Engineering at CCNY. Richmond Community High School (Virginia) and Marine Academy of Science and Technology (New Jersey) placed second and third respectively.
The keynote address was delivered by Anthony Scaramucci, a well known New York financier and Founder of SkyBridge Capital. Among other notable speakers were Angela Harrell, SVP, Corporate Responsibility, Voya Financial® and President, Voya Foundation; Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist, CFRA Research; and Phyllis F. Perillo, Founder, President and CEO of w!se.
“Financial Literacy is one of the most important issues of our time,” noted Anthony Scaramucci. “A financially literate nation is key to sustainable economic growth and I applaud w!se for giving young Americans the knowledge and skills to become our first generation of financially savvy adults.”
w!se created the 100 Best w!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance to recognize schools of excellence in its national network of participants in the Financial Literacy Certification program. This award winning program provides schools with the curriculum and resources to support their personal finance instruction and to measure students’ financial literacy when they take w!se’s Financial Literacy Certification Test. Students passing the Test become Certified Financially Literate™ a nationally recognized credential.
The “100 Best” ranking is the first and only national ranking in the field of personal finance education and is determined based on the average Certification Test score from each school with consideration given to the number of test takers and the socio-economic background of the students at each school.
“w!se is leading the way in personal finance education preparing young people for a life of financial wellness,” said Phyllis F. Perillo, Founder, President & CEO of w!se. “We are proud to showcase the top 100 schools of distinction and warmly congratulate their dedicated teachers and administrators for outstanding achievement.”
To commemorate this year’s fifth anniversary of the “100 Best” ranking, w!se awarded the Silver Anniversary Cup to the highest performing schools for the past five consecutive years. These schools are:
- Aviation High School in New York, NY;
- High School for Math, Science & Engineering at CCNY in New York, NY;
- Holston High School in Damascus, VA;
- Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne, NJ; and
- Utah County Academy of Sciences in Orem, UT.
The Silver Anniversary Cup will be presented once every five years.
For the complete list of this year’s 100 Best schools, visit http://bit.ly/2p0WPwQ.
About w!se
Working in Support of Education (w!se) is a leading educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York City with a mission to improve the lives of young people and at-risk adults through programs in 46 states that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and the workforce.
About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2015. The company had $452 billion in total assets under management and administration as of Dec. 31, 2015. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s vision is to be America’s Retirement Company™. The company is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible — Voya has been recognized as one of the 2016 World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute, and as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com or view the company’s 2014 annual report. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.
About Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where Voya Financial® operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children’s education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit http://www.voyafoundation.com.