Two Dos Pueblos High School students were awarded a total of $15,000 after earning first and second place in a nationwide financial literacy contest. 

The “Lights, Camera, Save!” competition, hosted by the American Bankers Association, encourages students to create entertaining and educational videos on financial topics such as saving money, identity theft protection and understanding credit. 

“Winning first and second place from one high school in a national competition is super cool,” Dos Pueblos Principal Bill Woodard said. “It’s a testament to the hard work of the media program teachers and our other career technical education teachers, who really emphasize project-based learning beyond the classroom.”

As financial literacy may soon become a graduation requirement in California, Woodard said the contest is a good way to start thinking about the importance of teaching students about finances. 

“I’m glad it’s becoming a graduation requirement for all students, and this contest is going to kick-start that movement and make it even more important to get this going sooner rather than later,” Woodard said.

Adam Costa’s and Ethan Gardiner’s wins were celebrated at Dos Pueblos on Monday.

Costa won first place and a $10,000 check for his video about the power of consistent saving and how setting small amounts of cash aside can lead to a more secure financial future. 

“Money kind of runs the world, so it’s important to know how to get a lot of it, and savings are a really big part of that,” Costa said. 

Entries are selected by local banks, which move forward the nominations to the American Bankers Association. Costa’s entry was chosen by Montecito Bank & Trust.

“We believe financial education is one of the most powerful tools we can provide the next generation,” said Brianna Aguilar, Vice President, Manager of Community Programs at Montecito Bank & Trust. “By engaging in conversations about budgeting, saving and credit, young people gain the knowledge and tools to help make informed decisions about their finances as they navigate the various stages of life. Seeing local students share relevant information with their peers is incredibly rewarding.”

Second place and a $5,000 check went to Gardiner, whose video about saving money for college was supported by American Riviera Bank. 

“I think kids making videos and then having other kids watch them means a lot, because it’s their peers,” said Alyssa Shapiro, assistant vice president and community relations officer of American Riviera Bank. “They’re getting this really cool and really powerful messaging from peers, and I think that it’s really impactful, and I think that just having these skills will help them their whole life.”

Gardiner was out sick, but classmates Zenia Potter and Deveraux Wigo, who worked on the video with him, accepted his prize on his behalf. 

“We wanted to make this video because I think educating kids our age about how to save money is such an important topic,” Wigo said. “We wanted to focus on saving money for college, because we feel like people, even including ourselves, weren’t as well informed about it and we just wanted to spread the message of how important it is.”

Gardiner, Potter and Wigo were all involved in creating and filming the video, and Potter was the on-camera personality. 

“​​As a senior, this whole year I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to pay for college next year, and then my mom is a foreigner, so she doesn’t really understand the process,” Potter said. “So doing my own research and also sharing that information with other people through a video was really important and valuable.”