Mastering Money Management with YOUth

Just about everybody agrees that kids need to know more about managing their money. Retired teachers are volunteering to do something about it.

 

NRTA:AARP’s Educator Community and Junior Achievement have come together to deliver a program made possible with a grant from the AARP Foundation and the Hartford.

Teachers are going back to classrooms with ready-to-use lessons plans to close the gap on what students know about saving and spending. JA developed the grade-specific curriculum for kindergartners to high school seniors. JA has also identified the schools that want to have volunteer teachers bring these lessons into the classrooms. What to teach and where to participate is all worked out in this alliance between JA, NRTA and local Retired Educators Association (REA) units.  

 

Students and teachers in Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, DC, and Columbus, OH, piloted the program this past spring . The teachers said they particularly like the flexible format and no long-term time commitment. Each class is just 45 minutes per week and all the lessons can be completed in five to eight weeks. One volunteer who hadn’t been in the classroom for awhile was relieved to know the classroom teacher remained in the room. Another former teacher found a buddy to teach with him. Plus there’s no prep time. Every lesson is planned out. An extra bonus is a $50 gift card to each volunteer for each completed course.

 

More local JA offices are ready to match retired educators and pre-screened schools. Be a volunteer making a difference in students’ spending and saving habits. To learn more about teaching personal financial education in a school near you contact Julie Uritus, NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community, (202) 434-2109, juritus@aarp.org.