Roton Middle Schoolers Learn About Financial Literacy from Junior Achievement

At Roton Middle School Friday afternoon, instead of the seventh and eighth graders learning the standard language arts or social studies lesson, they were learning a few of the same financial lessons that most adults learn the hard way, including how to create a financial budget that allows them to live within their means and maintaining a good credit score.

Junior Achievement of Southwestern Connecticut, an organization that educates area students about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness, brought in volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Stamford office to work with the children on skills such as realizing the difference between wants and needs and preparing for retirement.

While these students have a few years before they have to worry about such grown-up issues, it’s never too early to learn about them, according to marketing director Arlene Viscomi. In fact, Junior Achievement has lessons designed for children as young as kindergarten age.

“Statistics show that college students are graduating with loads of debt beyond their student loans,” Viscomi told Patch. “Before the economic downturn, the first people these students would see on campus were [bank representatives] urging them to apply for credit cards. They’ve cracked down on that sort of thing now, but these students [still] have to learn early that while credit can be a good thing, it does have to be used properly.”

As a part of their lesson with Junior Achievement, seventh graders were each assigned an occupation with the median salary that they would be paid each month. They then had to create a budget and figure out how much money they would need for essentials, such as food and clothing, entertainment and miscellaneous items. They also had to leave some money left over for savings and charitable contributions, if possible.

Seventh-grader Danny Robillard was given the occupation of an artist who makes $3,100 a month. He told Patch that he was surprised about the circumstances that could derail his budget even if he planned ahead.

“There could be an accident that brings extra medical bills or if your car breaks down, that’s another bill that you didn’t set out to pay and that’s hard because you never know when something like that’s going to happen,” he said. 

Robillard added that after the lesson, he had a better understanding of why his parents were always urging him to spend his money carefully.

Eighth graders were taken back into American history and the building of the country’s railroads to learn about natural, capital and human resources. They broke up into groups to play a board game were they were faced with situations that had either a positive or negative effect one of those three resources.

“We landed on a square that said ‘one of your construction workers forgot their supplies’ and we had to start from the beginning,” student Kassandra Centeno said while laughing.

Despite hearing about the many obstacles that entrepreneurs faced during that time, Centeno said that wouldn’t derail her from one day wanting to run her own business.

“I want to be my own boss and not have to follow someone else,” she said.  “I like being the leader.”