Ciara and Russell Wilson donated more than $35,000 to Denny International Middle School.
The couple partnered with the NFL, Goalsetter, and their Why Not You Foundation to bring awareness to Financial Literacy Month.
“Financial literacy and building wealth is so important,” Wilson said. “Ciara and I really wanted to talk to you all because we didn’t come from much and we had big visions, we had goals, big dreams.”
Wilson encouraged students to learn about technology to prepare for investing.
“It’s about finding the next up-and-coming thing. I wish I had invested in Facebook when I was young,” the football star said.
Goldsetter, a New York-based financial technology company, will provide up to five years of literacy tools through its app.
“After these kids see or hear Russell Wilson in their class, I want them to see that they don’t need to aspire to be in the NFL to be as cool and as financially successful as home,” Van Court, Goalsetter CEO, said.
Van Court says that financial literacy is the foundation of building wealth in a capitalistic society.
“It really should be a crime that kids are coming out of high school and can describe the periodic table but can’t describe the stock market,” Van Court said. “We have a capitalistic society that depends upon the understanding of the infrastructure of capitalism in order to build wealth, yet all we teach them is to go out and get a job.”
The CEO believes that every state should have a mandated k-12 financial education curriculum.
“I will also say I would like for us to mandate that financial education in a way that is culturally relevant and applicable to all kids,” Van Court said.
According to the Seattle Times, 29% of students at Denny International Middle School are Latin, 23% are white, 22% are black, 13% are Asian, 2% Pacific Islander, 1% Native American, 10% of students identify as being more than one race.
Students must engage with the program by taking a weekly quiz, or their accounts will be frozen. Almost 900 students will receive a savings account with $40.
