MONTGOMERY -- If you think explaining the sub-prime mortgage meltdown to the average adult isn’t easy, just try it with a room full of high school students.

Luckily, about 24 West Virginia teachers are getting help in that and other areas this week during the State Auditor’s Office’s annual Finance University. Teachers from around the state are participating in the course on the campus of West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

“My goal is to prepare teachers to talk about a wide array of financial topics that face everyday people,” said Bill Riley, a professor of finance at West Virginia University. “So I provide examples they can use in the classroom. … There are real-life decisions kids have to make. If they don’t understand how to make good financial decisions, they’ll get into trouble.”

This is the seventh year for Finance University, said Justin Southern, spokesman for the Auditor’s Office. Riley has taken part in the program from its inception.

Financial education is a top priority for the state especially in light of the events leading to the current economic recession, said William Cheeks, regional director of JumpStart, a financial education advocacy organization. Cheeks spoke to the group of teachers Aug. 4.

“It would have prevented a lot of the problems we’ve seen,” he said. “People just don’t understand how credit works.” That is why so many bought houses and cars they couldn’t really afford and why credit card debt is so high today, Cheeks said.

Cheeks also spoke to teachers about credit reports and the auto industry’s troubles. He was once vice president for consumer protection for the credit reporting agency, Equifax Inc.

This year, Finance University has partnered with NetWorth, which is a program run by the state Treasurer’s Office aimed at improving financial education in West Virginia, said Lynn Bennett, program manager.

“This is the ideal model for financial education,” she said. “We focus on the core subject areas and apply (finances) to the real world.”

The NetWorth program is developing a financial education curriculum that will be available statewide, Bennett said. The efforts of Finance University and NetWorth are being coordinated with the West Virginia Department of Education, she said.

Holly Branch, a teacher at Musselman High School in Berkeley County, and Pam Eversol, a teacher at Riverside High School in Kanawha County, have helped develop part of that curriculum.

They have worked on a financial course of study for K-12 students, Branch said. It involves real-world situations including everything from insurance to the stock market.

Teaching finances is nothing new for Eversol, who once taught civics in Boone County. Financial education was part of that curriculum. She is glad to see such a class ready to spread to the rest of the state, she said.

“This really puts the focus on it,” Eversol said. “I think it’s a great program.”

John Meeks, community affairs specialist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has taught at Finance University for the past five or six times, he said. This year, much of his talk involved the financial meltdown.

“(Teachers) need to explain to students that everybody agrees on the facts of what happened,” he said. “There is less agreement on who’s at fault.”

Financial education is important for students of all ages, Meeks said.

“It’s obviously very timely now,” he said. “High school and middle school kids are aware that things are bad in the economy. We should start with kids in second or third grades.”

But it shouldn’t stop with students, Meeks said. Parents also need financial education.

Teachers who attend Finance University receive continuing education credits from WVU, Riley said.