Student video on scams a finalist in national campaign

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Jonah Johnston needs your vote today or tomorrow to advance in a nationwide competition sponsored by the American Bankers Association Financial Education Campaign.

A Johnston resident [yes, his surname is the same as the town]  and junior at the Warwick Area Career & Technical Center, Jonah is one of 19 finalists nationwide to have his video selected for screening and voting on Instagram. Depending on the number of votes, his video could be one of five chosen by Jan. 27 to be voted on when the association holds its mid-February conference. And if he wins that, he’ll take home the first-place prize of $5,000.

His video, “Scam,” packs a lot into 30 seconds. It incorporates clips of headlines, a thumping beat and shots of him at a computer. While not a victim of a scam, Jonah said he was especially moved by stories of the elderly being scammed. He also has friends who have been scammed. He said competition rules limited videos to a single subject, so he was not able to interview people who had been scammed and use their accounts to tell the story.

A junior, Jonah is enrolled at the WACTC Business Academy of Marketing and Management taught by Sharon Bowen. Jonah, who ishomeschooled, selected WACTC because of the program. He is considering attending CCRI upon graduation.

Bowen has been working with Meg Apostolou, community development manager at Centreville Bank since 2023.

“As part of the bank’s education initiatives and financial empowerment work, the goal is to give students workplace based learning experiences. This has included project-based learning opportunities, presentations and workshops. In collaboration with the CTC, Centreville Bank has hosted two field trips to the West Warwick headquarters to give students a real-world look into community banking in Rhode Island,” Apostolou explained in an email.

The class of 25 junior and seniors were given a project to develop a script and create a video on a financial-literacy topic ranging from retirement to fraud and scams.  More than 200 schools across the country participated in the project.

“We’re so proud to have a Rhode Island student as a finalist. It’s amazing to see young people in our community taking charge of their financial futures and show what’s possible with the right tools and knowledge,” said Apostolou.

Voting will be live from this Thursday at 1 pm. EST to Friday, Jan. 17 at 12:59 pm on Instagram through the American Bankers Association Story: @americanbankersassociation.

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