Igniting Better Financial Lives
It's never too early to start planning financially for the future. The Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors' Ignite Others program helps high school students get a jump on better finances.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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The average cost of a home in our area is roughly a half-million dollars, leaving many to rightly wonder how/if they’ll ever be able to afford one.
With interest rates high, food costs stubbornly high, and economic worries at the forefront of people’s minds, there is little doubt that buying a home is a challenging proposition.
Things aren’t likely to improve anytime soon, meaning the earlier people start to consider buying a home, the better. That’s the point of Ignite Others, a financial literacy program offered produced by NAR and made available to high school students by members of the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors.
The program, which lasts a couple hours, was rolled out in Spring 2024. In Spring 2025 Ignite Others was offered in three locations — The Oberle Academy, the Phoenix Center, and Massaponax High School.
Financial literacy has become a hot topic in recent years. According to the Council for Economic Education, as recently as 2022 fewer than half the states required students to have instruction in financial literacy.
According to CEE’s latest report, more than two-thirds of states now require the training. However, not all training’s are effective.
A study conducted by APEF grades states for the quality of financial education. Eleven earned As, and Virginia is one of those eleven, requiring a standalone course in personal finance education and economic education.
According to Page Browning, CEO of FAAR, the Ignite Others course is “a one hour supplement to the Virginia requirement, but it also introduces students to the myriad of careers in industries connected to home ownership.”
FAAR volunteers “reach out to the schools and ask them if they want to participate in program,” Browning said. The course doesn’t require a formal commitment.
Interested schools can reach out to Browning via email for more information at pbrowning@faarmembers.com.
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