Financial Fitness for Kids
In 2003, CPS and the city treasurer’s office launched this pilot financial literacy program at nine elementary schools. Geared for students in kindergarten through 5th grade, it teaches basic personal financial concepts like earning income, saving, investing and managing money.
Workshops and monthly support meetings for participating teachers on how to integrate financial concepts into their lessons are offered by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Economic Education, using materials from the National Council on Economic Education. So far, the pilot has been expanded to include 20 schools; 54 teachers have been trained.
SEED (Savings for Education, Entrepreneurship and Down Payment)
Seventy-five 1st- through 8th-grade students at Mayo Elementary are the test pilots of a financial education and college savings program co-sponsored by Chase Bank and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. Each student gets $500 to deposit into a restricted college savings account, which will be supplemented up to $1,500 by a nonprofit organization that promotes economic opportunity. In return, students attend 15 financial education sessions each year at Mayo during an eight-week period, and their parents agree to attend four financial education workshops a year.
For a complete list of financial education programs, contact Norma Ghaben, CPS Office of School Financial Services, 773-773-553-2725.