When I was a student at Lake Oswego’s Lakeridge High School, we were required to take a mandatory class on balancing a checkbook. I also had the benefit of learning other personal finance skills from family members, mentors, books, or by trial and error — and through the part time jobs I held in high school.
A few years ago, however, I realized that even the very basic intro to personal finance is something that has gotten squeezed out of the average curriculum as schools struggle to find funding for reading, writing, and arithmetic. Given the difficult economy in the last few years, many low- and middle-income students have not been able to find the part time jobs that my friends and I had growing up. Often, due to family or economic circumstances, they don’t have good mentors to model behavior. And many children don’t even have bank accounts until they graduate from high school, when they are suddenly expected to be financially independent.
I joined the board for Junior Achievement of Oregon and Southwest Washington (JA) a few years ago because I believe very strongly in its mission: “To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.” Just as all politics is local, I believe that the foundation of a strong economy lies in financial and civics education for individual children so that they have the tools they need to be successful. Junior Achievement chapters around the world work to accomplish the organization’s mission by focusing on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workplace readiness. JA is an amazing organization, with fantastic staff and a really dynamic, positive board of directors. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to serve as part of the board of directors and as a member of the finance committee.
Our local JA chapter has a variety of diverse programs. Thousands of classroom volunteers around the state teach personal finance and civics to children of all ages using modules designed by Junior Achievement teams. The organization also produces a podcast that is designed to teach parents how to talk to their kids about money and financial decisions. Junior Achievement BizTown is an interactive experience for Fifth Graders where the students learn about having a job and participating in the economic life of a city.
This month, Junior Achievement of Oregon and Southwest Washington unveils its newest learning experience – Finance Park. This is an interactive, iPad-based experience that is designed to teach junior high students about budgeting and personal money management.
The JA board of directors and design team made a decision early on in the process to make Finance Park mobile so that it can go to students in communities all over Oregon. In the first couple of months, over a thousand Oregon students will have the chance to experience Finance Park in communities as diverse as Klamath Falls, Medford, Eugene, Bend/Redmond, and Portland! If it comes to a community near you, you may want to check it out.
I would encourage anyone to learn more about, and get involved with, this amazing organization!
