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Shiloh Peters wanted to teach her students math they would actually need to know to survive, she said. “During the five years I taught, I often felt like I was not teaching math skills that would be the most useful for students, such as financial math,” Peters said via email. She joined the staff at Rogue Credit Union to bring that interest to fruition — and a year later, the team was recognized with a national award for financial literacy for the curriculum it designed. “(The Credit Union National Association) created the Desjardins program to recognize leadership within the credit union movement on behalf of financial literacy for all ages,” writes the association on its website. The award-winning curriculum is making its way into increasing numbers of public school classes from Medford to Klamath Falls to the Southern Oregon coast, led by Peters as the financial education coordinator. “As we view financial education as a critical subject for student success, we decided it was important to create our U-teach curriculum, which empowers teachers to take the subject of financial literacy into their own hands,” Peters said. Teachers at various schools across Southern Oregon have led their students through a variety of topics including student loans, budgeting and maintaining a good credit score. At Ashland High School, freshmen learned financial smarts in Grizz Academy. At Crater Renaissance Academy, it was a senior seminar. The credit union designed the lessons to meet Oregon standards for financial literacy curriculum. With names like “Game of Loans” or “Adulting 101,” Peters tried to make the topics seem relevant to young people. Data suggest many Americans could benefit from more education on navigating their finances. A Federal Reserve report from 2017 said that credit-card debt was at an all-time high last year, surpassing $1 trillion. According to a November ValuePenguin report, Oregon ranked ninth in the nation for credit-card debt among state residents with an average balance of $8,619. The U-Teach curriculum is a free resource; teachers can request it from Rogue Credit Union by visiting roguecu.org/learn. It’s designed so teachers can learn it themselves, but they can request additional training. Education is one of Rogue Credit Union’s core values. Its founding members were 10 teachers who met in Medford and formed their own credit union for public school employees in the late 1950s. In 1972, their credit union merged with then-Rogue Federal Credit Union, and in the following decade it opened to all Jackson County residents. “Staying true to the roots of the organization is pretty important to us,” said Kelsey Esqueda, the credit union’s marketing manager. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Kaylee Tornay at [email protected] or 541-776-4497. Follow her on Twitter @ka_tornay.