Experiences and Projects

Leyla Suleymanli

Sustainable Development Goals Project September – December 2022

I was a part of the "Responsible Usage of Money among High School Students” project, that was
aimed to educate students at Dunya School about financial responsibility, preparing them for
managing their expenses as they approach adulthood.
There are a lot of people nowadays that are struggling with financial issues involving student
debts, spontaneous or impulsive shopping. At the end of the day, they are left with small
amount of money and huge bills to recover. That is why we have decided to start working with
this issue and help our future generations to avoid such problems. The main purpose of this
project was to teach and inform teens, adolescents and future adults about the value of money
and how to save up effectively while not compromising much of their comfort or health.
Therefore, in the future, they will not be struggling with financial troubles that may occur or
recover from debts through planned spendings.

Project Details
We conducted two workshops:

 Workshop #1 involved surveying 30 students about their spending behavior and

delivering a presentation on effective money management relying on our college
experience and utilizing online resources. The survey results showed that 83% of the
students spend their allowance for food and clothing and never saved.
 Workshop #2 included case studies and online games based on the lecture materials
from Workshop #1.
 Additionally, we created a YouTube video summarizing Workshop #1 for wider
accessibility.

Team Role
I was the team leader of the group conducting all the presentations, making reports every
month regarding the team’s progress and negotiating with the event planner. We were a team
of 7 people and as I was observing each of their abilities and skills, I sorted out the task
depending on their strengths. This method helped us a lot to meet deadlines and clear up all
the misunderstandings. As a negotiator of the team, I emailed the event organizer of the Dunya
School and after some time, we held a short meeting where I highlighted the main reasons for
launching workshops here and how it will help students in the future. The organizer of the event
was delighted to implement these events and set up workshops dates several weeks earlier.
 The Results of the Workshops

Objectives Deliverable Comments

Give the students
fundamental and
appropriate for their level
presentation, share
experience and give tips
about using the money
accurately
Workshop #1 Students were listening attentively, asking questions and
were really active while answering our questions. In our
12/12/22 team we had an exchange student from France who was
talking their financial situation and education about this
topic at school

Check the students’
performance and see how
they absorbed the given
knowledge through testing
with case studies and online
games.
Workshop #2 The results of the testing of students’ knowledge were
above average meaning that our team achieved the goal
13/12/22 of giving the knowledge and sharing the experiences
and tips with them

Share the Youtube video 20/12/22

regarding our lecture so that
it would be available to
everyone

Achievements and Results

Goals Achieved:

 Successfully surveyed students to understand their budgeting abilities.

 Delivered an engaging lecture during Workshop #1.
 Conducted Workshop #2, testing students' knowledge, resulting in high scores.
 Created a YouTube video for broader accessibility.
Significance of Achievements:

 Unexpected active participation from initially disinterested students.

 Students demonstrated understanding by effectively utilizing budgeting skills in the case
study game.

Conclusion
Our team met all our objectives. Although, many students originally exhibited no interest, their
passion during the case study game demonstrated otherwise. Students interacted with the
content, demonstrating their output from our sessions. Even those who were originally
uninterested, this unexpected involvement emphasized the efficiency of our educational
method. The main goal of the project was to establish the importance of responsible spending,
making teens’ own savings and bring the fundamental knowledge that would last from the time
they go to college and even adult life. As a team we believed that these high school students
will not only be financially educated, but also have an influence on the people closest to them,
resulting in a future generation of monetary awareness, durability, and even financial freedom.

Links for used materials during the workshop and reference material.

Sample of the survey questions

Survey on Responsible Usage of Money among the students.docx

Survey result statistics

Case study game about shopping: Case Study.docx

Our activities: photos and videos : SRP photos and videos
Reference material used for the workshops:
1)Ahn, S. Y., & Nam, Y. (2022). Does mobile payment use lead to overspending? The moderating
role of financial knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior, 134, 107319.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107319

2)Welding, L. (2022, December 5). 6 Ways College Finances Affect Mental Health.
Www.Bestcolleges.com. https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/college-finances-affect-mental-
health/#:~:text=Financial%20anxiety%20may%20be%20greater%20for%20these%20students%
20who%20tend,tended%20to%20experience%20greater%20anxiety.
3)Bennet, R., & Beers, B. (2022, August 7). 6 Ways College Finances Affect Mental Health.
Www.Bankrate.com. https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/how-to-save-money-as-high-
school-student/

4) Online games:
https://www.timeforpayback.com/?lang=en
https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org
https://www.2020dreams.org.uk/pshe-workshops/business-career-money/financial-
responsibility-money-budgeting/
https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-literacy-workshop/
https://www.mimm.gov/topics

5) Bennet, R., & Beers, B. (n.d.). How to Manage Your Money Wisely. Www.Bankrate.com.
https://www.araglegal.com/member/learning-center/topics/budget-and-finance/manage-
money-wisely

6) DiamondValley (n.d.). Why Do I Spend So Much When Shopping Online?

Diamondvalleyfcu.org. https://diamondvalleyfcu.org/blog/why-do-i-spend-so-much-when-
shopping-online

Youtube video:

https://youtu.be/gU0OZ7ZuI8g