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McKinley students learn to manage money
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Cohen and Company accountant Lisa Damore (left) and YSU intern, Carmela Ballone, led sixth-graders in a FETCH finance game Nov. 10. Classroom group winners received a dog bone shaped pencil and grade level winners were awarded with a pizza party.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Bryan Gough (left), Ohio State Auditors Office, helped fifth-graders Bethany Evan and Christina Tremonti with balancing their groups bank account. They had to subtract an expense from their account.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .McKinley Elementary sixth-graders Jeffrey Vrabel (left), Ryan Maker, Marcus Trevis, Kayla Metzka and Emily Melnek worked as a group to keep their band account balanced on Nov. 10 during a FETCH game. The game was intended to teach students how to manage their money and make responsible financial decisions.
Fifth and sixth-graders certainly know how to spend money, so it was time for them to learn how to save it, too.
McKinley Elementary fifth and sixth-graders learned how to balance an account and save money Nov. 10 through the Financial Education Teaches Children Healthy Habits (FETCH) program. FETCH is comprised of local accountants, business professionals and Youngstown State University students who introduce young students to financial concepts such as earnings, investing, spending and saving through interactive games.
This year’s participants included Cohen and Company, Packer Thomas, Hill, Barth and King, Yurchyk and Davis, the Ohio State Auditors Office and students and staff from Youngstown State University.
They visited the school to help the students improve their financial literacy. The team was divided throughout 16 classrooms and worked with the more than 250 students at McKinley.
This year. students had to purchase four inventory items — a dog collar, leash, bowl and bone — while ensuring their account does not fall into default. Students worked together in small groups to complete this task.
Red rubber dice were rolled to move their game piece along a game board full of earnings and expenses. Depending on where they landed, the students either had to add money to their account or subtract from it.
Since FETCH has visited the McKinley in years past, several students have received the financial training both years while at McKinley. Sixth-grader Ryan Maker said he enjoyed the stock market game from last year better than the budgeting game of this year, but he was still able to gain useful knowledge from having to balance a bank account.
“You have to buy stuff for your dog and not go into debt,” Maker explained. “It’s like real life.”