Students can immediately apply skills learned in Financial Planning to the real world
Posted on 01/20/2025
High school students in the Mehlville School District are learning financial literacy skills in Financial Planning that can immediately be applied to their lives, like investments, budgeting and credit.
The Financial Planning course is a dual-credit class offered through the University of Missouri-St. Louis, typically taken by college freshmen and sophomores. Students begin the year conducting an analysis of how credit works, the basics of credit cards and the mathematical calculations of credit. They discuss how they apply their knowledge of credit when applying for student loans.
“Most of the students in the financial planning class are seniors, so they’re working, they’re applying for college, and dealing with the reality of these are all of the things that I have to pay for,” said Lucian Biesiadecki, a business teacher at Mehlville High School. “This class helps students realize what is coming and prepares them for the future.”
Students also learn about the different facets of buying a home, how interest rates work, investments, life and health insurance, and budgeting.

Photo: Financial Planning students at MHS demonstrated their knowledge through presentations to freshmen students in the FLEX program. Topics included how much of each paycheck you should save, how to save for retirement and how to gain financial security through budgeting.
“It’s been eye-opening to my financial situation and what I need to do to get myself to a better place when it comes to my finances,” said Jimmy, an MHS student. “This class helps you think about how you’ll apply what you’re learning to real-world experiences. I’ve already been able to use what we’ve learned about budgeting to my everyday life.”
Whether students plan to pursue a career in finance like Alivia, a MHS student, or not, students are learning skills that align with the Mehlville School District’s Portrait of a Graduate, providing students with skills that will lead to successful professional and personal lives.
“The financial planning class has helped me understand a lot of things I haven’t thought about before like investments, saving for retirement and the future in general,” said Alivia Tran.

IMAGE: Students can immediately apply skills they learn in financial planning, like budgeting, to their lives.
Students can earn three college credit hours through the Financial Planning course, which is completed over the course of one semester. A prerequisite for this course is successful completion of the Personal Finance class. In that course, which is required for all high schoolers, students learn how choices influence future earning potential, apply decision-making skills to evaluate career choices and effective use of personal income.
MHS and Oakville High School students should speak to their counselor if they’re interested in enrolling in the Personal Finance or Financial Planning classes.