THE PINION Vol. 89, No. 6
McKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Plan hopes to teach financial literacy by Peiru Lu
Have you thought about how to pay for your college education, how to make a down payment on a house or a car? Do you want to live a reasonable life and not struggle financially? Do you want enough money to retire later on in life? The earlier you start preparing, the better. To help students on the path to savings, McKinley High School is tak-
“Young people who do not take advantage of the time that they have to save earlier in life are missing a very important opportunity to put in place a plan for their future.” --Dr. Michael Cheang ing part in Earn and Learn Savings Plan, a financial program first created by Dr. Michael Cheang of the UH School of Family and Consumer Science. He did research on financial literacy. Financial literacy means the ability to understand about savings and money. “National studies on financial literacy over the past 20 years show yet again that the high school graduates are ill informed about and are lacking serious skills in personal finance,” he said. “Young people who do not take advantage of the time that they have to save earlier on in life are missing a very important opportunity to put in place a plan for their future.” Another important reason to start saving early is the benefit of compound interest. When you start saving early, your
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savings will grow over time. If you are 15 years old and save $20 every month, at four percent interest, by the age of 65, you will have more than $38,000. To help students become more financially responsible, Cheang started to educate the youth about financial security and money saving. He first started this savings plan with the pupils in Kamuela Elementary School, and the results came Illustration by Feng Jun Liang (10) out good, so he decided to do it in high So far at MHS, 57 students have signed schools. up for the saving plan this year, but only Ron Okamura, MHS Principal, said the two of them came to make a deposit. goal is to help students become “more Since September 2008, 1,100 elemenfinancially responsible and to save money tary school students have saved close to to participate in school activities.” $100,000 while the high school students All MHS students are welcome to open have saved less than $10,000. Cheang accounts with $25. The accounts are with said, “Somehow, the high school students Hawaii School Federal Credit Union, and seem less interested to save their money... interest rates of about 4% - the same as not knowing how important this is for other banks. HSFCU will be on campus their future, and how much it can make a every first Wednesday to collect deposits significant difference in their future.” for the Earn & Learn Savings Program in Student Activities during lunchtime.
Strive for balance in brain
By Shaira Mae Agcaoili (9)
Left or right brain? Your brain is very beneficial by helping you see/view things, think logically, generate ideas, solve problems, and think creatively. Even without knowing it, we’re all using our brains. You don’t even have to be smart to use your brain. A small part of a person’s thoughts are kept in the conscious level of the mind. Most of it is held in the “subconscious” part of the person’s brain. The “subconscious” part is the part of brain
that keeps our deep thoughts. We need to know how to control our thoughts. The brain resembles a shelled walnut when looked at from the top view. The brain is divided into two halves: the left half and the right half. The left half of the brain controls or handles the nerve impulses to the right side of the body. The right half of the brain controls the left side of the body. The left brain is called the “splitter” because it splits thoughts into logical parts. The right brain is called the Continued on p. 4