Who better to talk about the importance of budgets than Mayor Joseph Solomon?

And, yes, Solomon stressed the importance of managing finances during the eighth annual CU 4 Reality Financial Education Fair Wednesday morning at Toll Gate High School.

But that’s not what students and faculty were excited to hear.

After driving the entrance road to the educational complex, the mayor said, “I’ve put potholes on the top of my list.” He said asphalt plants have reopened for the season, and even before arriving at the event – which was sponsored by Wave Federal Credit Union – he had placed a call to the Department of Public Works to address the problem.

The news brought a spontaneous burst of applause and cheers.

Indeed, the road is full of potholes. Cones mark the worst of them, but the road is pocked with holes and crumbling pavement. It’s difficult to miss them.

Potholes could also serve as an appropriate metaphor for personal financial planning, the focus of yesterday’s fair.

“The budget is a basic concept, a basic tool,” Solomon said. He told about 100 students that financial education serves as a “foundation” to their future success.

The Warwick School Committee looked at it that way when they made financial education a graduation requirement that will take effect with the class of 2020. Superintendent Philip Thornton said the yearlong class will require additional teachers, although there may be some crossover certification between math and teachers of other disciplines, for example.

Warwick won’t be alone in requiring financial education if legislation pushed by General Treasurer Seth Magaziner gains legislative approval.

Citing the financial burden of student loans, car payments and a mortgage latter in life, Magaziner told students there are “a lot of things to help you, but there are also a lot of pitfalls [when it comes to personal finances].” He said understanding finances is key to making good decisions. He noted that 36 states require financial education in high school and that “Rhode Island should do it, too.”

“Warwick is an example that it can be done and it can be done well,” he said.

There was no better example of what the Warwick system can do than Kayla Lopes, a member of the Toll Gate class of 2012.

Lopes attended the Wave program as a Toll Gate student. She went on to work at Wave and earn a degree at Bryant. She is now a financial advisor at Barnum Financial Group, which was one of the local businesses to participate in the fair.

Lopes told her story and soon after was buttonholed by Toll Gate junior Sara Cook. Cook was interested to learn more about Lopes’ career path and the two hit it off.

Crook gained even more insight as she rotated between the tables of participating companies and put together her own budget plan. As she went through the numbers, learning the cost of food, housing, a car, healthcare, student loans and a smartphone, she said, “I learned I have to make some sacrifices.”

For starters, she said, she would have to cook for herself, get a cheaper cell phone plan and forego cable TV. Crook said she hopes to attend either URI or RIC and that she would like to become a loan officer.

That’s a different route than the path Dylan Jubinville hopes to take. The 18-year-old senior said he is already saving money for his retirement. He wants to become an electrician and has set Electric Boat as his target because they pay well and offer good benefits.

“Right now, I don’t need to go to college. Why spend the money?” he said.

Marco Moretti, wealth planning advisor with Integrated Financial Planners, listened. He has spoken before the financial planning class of Laurie Mockler and knew Jubinville.

Moretti is impressed. He said Jubinville understands the compound effect of starting to save early for retirement and congratulated him for setting aside money now.

The fair provides the students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom and interact with local businesses as consumers based on their chosen career and corresponding monthly income. The students met with representatives from Wave Federal Credit Union and various businesses – including Cruise Planners, Empire Beauty School, Integrated Financial Partners, Liberty Mutual, Premier Home Realty LLC, the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority, Stop & Shop, Tarbox Toyota and others – to gain an appreciation of the importance of budgeting, financial planning and making wise purchasing decisions.