Ms. Wright Recognized as Educator of the Year by Buzz Awards
September 30, 2017
This summer, Armijo educator Ms. FaraLee Wright was honored by the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce Buzz Awards as Educator of the Year for her dedication to improving students’ lives through financial literacy. More than 150 attended the red carpet event, where community members and businesses were recognised for their contributions to their cities. Armijo is now home to two Buzz Award Educator of the Year recipients— the other being Ms. Halsey, who was recognized as Educator of the Year for her previous work in the robotics program at Grange Middle School.
The Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce began the Buzz Awards as method of recognizing best new businesses, person of the year, and standout contributors to the community. Ms. Wright was nominated by FSUSD superintendent Kris Corey for her efforts in leading financial literacy in the district. “I got there and realized the kinds of people who were being recognized and what they do and I thought wow— this really was bigger than I had anticipated,” said Wright, “There was a red carpet and got my photo taken. It was really nice and the blown glass trophy was beautiful— just beautiful.”
Wright obtained her degree in Economics from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, where she grew her interest in helping students understand money. “It’s important to me that students understand money and how it works,” said Wright, “And that’s why I support the financial literacy program we do here in Fairfield Suisun.”
Currently, Ms. Wright teaches teaches all Economics classes at Armijo. Over the course of her career, she has taught subjects including Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry. Further, Wright is responsible for the creation of the statistics course in the Fairfield Suisun School District, which she had taught for 19 years before handing off the course to Mr. Bowen. “I created the course and got it approved, I said, ‘We needed more choice for kids,’” said Wright.
At Armijo High, First Northern Bank financially supports the interactive, computer program for financial literacy taught in all of Wright’s economic classes, named EVERFI. Based in Washington D.C, EVERFI is a educational technology company that powers a network of over 16 million students to increase financial capability among communities.
Through the EVERFI program, Armijo students learn about checking and saving, FICO scores, insurance, buying a car, loans, student loans, budgets, and about the federal reserve. “These are important skills for handling their own money,” said Wright, “So many times students get out of high school with little skills that they can use right away, and this financial literacy is very important.”
For the past 6 years, Wright has completed the EVERFI program in her Economics classes for students to learn these skills. According to Wright, over 800 Armijo students have certified or done partial parts of the program and more will complete the program each school year. “It’s important to know this information when talking with banks and credit unions and when making good decisions in the marketplace,” said Ms. Wright.
When asked for a final message to share with Armijo students and staff, Wright said, “Financially literate students are more responsible in the community and marketplace. They make good decisions and share the information with their families. They see themselves as personally responsible and accountable for their own financial actions – and it’s always a plus for our community!”
