Mastering money

Teachers Rex Mangiaracina (left), William Harding and Principal Tanya Branham go the extra mile with the Economics and Personal Finance course at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology.

Posted on 1.10.25

Alex Mejia graduated last spring from Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology (POB) with the dream of becoming a pilot. He researched different flight schools and their available payment options, and found that he had to balance the cost of achieving his dream with how debt would affect his future.

“At one school, either you had to take out a loan or just pay for it,” Mejia said. “At one, they were asking me to get a $90,000 loan. When I saw that interest rate – way more than 15% – I realized I was never going to get out of that.”

Mejia called Rex Mangiaracina, who was his Economics and Personal Finance (EPF) teacher at POB. Mangiaracina explained that there were other pathways Mejia could take without $100,000 debt.

“He knew it didn’t feel right and didn’t sign anything,” Mangiaracina said. “If he hadn’t had the class, the rest of his life could’ve looked different from that one decision. We’ve had multiple students come back to us and share different stories like that.”

Many students lack practical financial knowledge because it is often not discussed at home and previously was not taught in school. North Carolina adopted an EPF course requirement for graduation to help students become college and career ready, as well as financially responsible citizens. It began with the class of 2024 and falls under high school social studies departments.

At POB, EPF is taught by William Harding and Mangiaracina, who supplement their course with resources from Working in Support of Education (W!se), an educational nonprofit that provides financial literacy programs. It includes the W!SE Personal Financial Literacy Certification Exam, which students take without it affecting their grade, but those who pass earn a nationally recognized credential for their resumes and professional pursuits.

Mangiaracina learned about the program at a conference and was able to have last year’s program covered through W!se. The school had winning results for the certification exam, with 93% of students passing in January and 86% passing in May. POB was named a 2023-24 Blue Star School, a national performance award, and Mangiaracina earned a 2024 Gold Star Teacher Award.

“The kids were scared about their scores, then they’d see that they passed – they didn’t think they would – but they showed that they really do understand the concepts we’ve gone over,” Mangiaracina said. “That was the most fulfilling thing I’ve had as a teacher so far.”

Senior Devin Anderson is in Mangiaracina’s current class. He said he was a little nervous at first about learning to manage money and that there weren’t a lot of questions because most students didn’t have that knowledge.

“There's been a switch that just clicked,” he said. “Now you see more questions just flying everywhere – how do I do this? What do I invest in? What do I do to help me, but also everybody else? We’ve learned about bonds, stocks, investing and how to save money and put it to good use. I'm extremely grateful that I'm here at POB, and we have the opportunity to take the certification test. It proves our ability and that we actually know what to do with our money.”

Crystal Shue, EPF specialist for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, helped secure a grant that covers POB this year, but she and Mangiaracina would like the program to be available for all CMS students. That will require funding, which they are working hard to find for next fall. 

“We are extremely proud of the work that our EPF teachers at Phillip O. Berry have done to provide this opportunity to their students,” Shue said. “With support from the North Carolina Council on Economic Education, we continue to seek out community support to financially make this opportunity available to all students in CMS and beyond.”  

Mangiaracina is passionate about securing this additional opportunity for the future and is spreading the word to businesses and the community that it is worth the investment for student success.

“This is something I pursued because I believe strongly in the kids having an opportunity to demonstrate mastery in personal finance,” he said, “and to have something as a concrete takeaway – a nationally recognized certificate.”