Financial Literacy

In celebration of financial literacy month, Jody Sandru’s high school personal finance class teamed up with our 3rd graders to teach the importance of budgeting and saving/investing. We also welcomed Steve Collinge from Opportunity Bank who presented a budget exercise with tootsie rolls. Students then invested and bartered for goods. Students gathered again for a second hands-on lesson. Each third grader teamed up with his/her senior Budget Buddy. We went through an interactive budget game where students drew from cards to find out their career and salary. They then made choices and filled out a monthly budget. The room was a buzz with chatter and positive energy. Sandru loved hearing the seniors explain the importance of budgeting, investing and making wise choices. It was such a win/win! One third grader had about $1000 left at the end of the month. He explained to his senior, I need to put about 1/2 of this aside to pay taxes! Wow….. we were all so impressed this third grader is so money smart. Thank you Jamie Janosko for inviting us to do this collaborative project, and thank you Opportunity Bank for the piggy banks and prizes! “I strongly believe that financial education needs to be part of our curriculum because every single student should understand how to build a success financial future,” said Sandru.