by Shannon Harmon
Leadership Giving Director
Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) members recently presented to students at Granite Park Junior High. Students who received the presentation are part of a targeted program called AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). AVID exists to help and prepare first generation college students. The AIVD program offers support and instruction to increase college attendance among this population.
As a compliment to the instruction students received through AVID, WLC members presented on financial literacy, based on a book donated by Morgan Stanley called It’s a Money Thing. In the presentation, WLC members focused on savings accounts, creating a budget, determining a “need” versus a “want,” and the ups and downs of credit.
We recently received thank you letters for the WLC volunteers from the students. We were so happy to hear from them and appreciated their excitement about the presentation. A huge thank you to our volunteers who created the curriculum and to those that presented. You can see from the thank you letters that it definitely made a difference. Thank you for helping us change the odds!
“I will never forget the presentation that you gave to the kids here at Granite Park (including me). Before this presentation, I never thought about if I was using my money wisely or not. I never thought about my needs and wants. Before, I would just run into Wal-Mart and look at something and then buy it. I never actually even through if I would use it or not. I am now saving money for college and I think that is a wise choice. In your presentation, I learned the more school you get the more money you receive. Thank you for all that you do.”
“Thank you for taking the time to come talk to us about how we can budget and save money. You really opened my eyes and made me realize that it’s important to save money and education is the key to being successful. I am very grateful that I was able to have this experience! Thank you!”
“You really inspired me to teach this to my family. Also you inspired both my little siblings and cousin. What you taught us was very useful and taught me how important it is right now and later. You are amazing at teaching and telling the importance of school and education. I can’t thank you enough. Thank you so much.”
“Thank you for coming to our school to teach us about the important stuff. I appreciate you telling us about how important it is to have a good career and a career that I love. It was also important to learn about how much money we have to spend. I just want to say that I am really grateful to have that presentation. It gave me hopes to be a nurse.”
“Thank you for coming to our school. I really appreciate what you did cause I started saving and I already have 50 dollars. You taught me a lot.”
“Thank you very much for the precious time that you spent with us. I have learned so many things by listening to your amazing ideas that you told everyone. The information that you have us was priceless. My favorite part was when you told us how you can buy a house and save money, because I love houses and I can’t wait to use the strategy you told me to buy my own house.”
“Thank you for coming to talk to our class! I really enjoyed every minute of what you had to say! I learned a lot. Honestly, I did not know a lot about money and how to manage money. But now I do! This will help me a lot. It will help me be a successful woman! You are a GREAT public speaker and very entertaining!”
“I am so thankful for your speech. I learned so much that I had to go home and tell my parents about everything. I told my dad that we needed to go open a savings account to save for college. Thank you!!”
“My favorite part of the presentation was the difference between credit card and cash. I learned a lot of things from the presentation like how to save money, etc. I shared everything that I learned from the presentation with my dad. He was surprised about this. The thing that I am trying to use is what is nice to have versus what is a need to have. I am trying to save money. The most interesting thing was when I got to know about the bank.”
“I just wanted to say thank you. I really appreciate everything you taught about money. Especially because I now know how to save my money better. I now know the importance of interest, credit, etc. So, thank you! I hope that I will learn and use money wisely like you taught us. Thank you so much.”
