Kelly Elementary School students learn financial lessons

BENTON, Mo. -- Kelly Elementary School fourth-grader Victoria Collom won't be able to apply for a credit card for almost 10 years. But she can already define the difference between simple and compound interest.

She and other fourth- and fifth-grade students in the Scott County elementary began participating in an online game designed to increase financial literacy at the start of the year.

MoneyIsland is a cartoon-themed virtual world with various interactive activities for students ages 8 to 13. The curriculum focuses on lessons in saving and spending, earning and investing and using credit wisely, according to the Charleston, Mo., bank that funds the program at the school.

Focus Bank has partnered with 41 schools in Southeast Missouri and northwest Arkansas in an effort to increase students' knowledge of money management, said Anna Ferrell, the bank's marketing director.

Some schools use the program as a part of personal finance classes at the high school level, Ferrell said. The bank provides a coordinator for the partnerships, Pam Ferrell.

The use of MoneyIsland through Focus Bank has increased in use so much in the region's schools during the past few years that its popularity prompted a visit to Kelly Elementary on Wednesday morning from the program's creator, Felix Lloyd. Lloyd is a former Washington, D.C. Teacher of the Year and founder of Skill-Life Inc., the technology company that created the program.

Lloyd said he doesn't often visit schools to see the program in action but instead trains teachers before a school begins using the program. He said about 90 banks and credit unions sponsor the use of MoneyIsland in 40 states.

In Vicki LeGrand's computer classroom Wednesday, Lloyd gave a presentation and engaged students in a question-and-answer session over what they learned from the program. Fourth-grader Samuel Jett demonstrated MoneyIsland on his computer.

"I know stock markets, investment and what property place value means," he said. "And I always put something in the bank every time I get a paycheck."

The goal of student-controlled characters in the program is to learn definitions of financial terms and apply those terms to money they "earn" through their actions. The program provides pre- and post-assessment tests for teachers to administer to students.

Schools have tried to increase financial literacy education in recent years. A growing number of states require students to take a full-semester course on personal finance in order to graduate or require incorporation of financial education into other coursework. Missouri passed legislation on that requirement several years ago. According to the Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, which tracks data on financial literacy education nationwide, some states also contain counties or school districts that require personal finance education.

Higher education hasn't been left out of the growing trend. Southeast Missouri State University expanded its financial literacy program to meet federal requirements in 2010 and began offering seminars several times per semester.

A key finding in a 2011 survey of high school students by the College Savings Foundation was that more students are setting their sights on affordable four-year schools, according to a statistics roundup compiled by Jumpstart. Graduates of four-year colleges and universities in Missouri averaged $22,601 of debt in 2011. At Southeast, the average debt of graduates in 2010 was $22,400, according to The Project on Student Debt.

Junior Achievement programs have been promoters of financial literacy education in Southeast Missouri schools as well. At Jackson Middle School this week, Junior Achievement programs with a focus in financial literacy are ongoing, said Merideth Pobst, district manager for the area. About 7,200 students in area schools will be reached with Junior Achievement programs this year, she said. Several other community youth improvement agencies, such as the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Girardeau, also provide financial literacy programming.

Ferrell said the bank's reasons for funding financial literacy education is that it is mutually helpful for finance institutions and for students who could make money mistakes in the future because of an absence of proper knowledge.

"If you do, you will know what to do," she said to the students Wednesday. "And you will know how to start over."

Lloyd said every few months his company updates the versions of MoneyIsland. Soon it will release a version focused on risk and insurance, he said. Lloyd and two of his co-workers also visited the Scott County Central School District on Wednesday.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

4035 State Highway 77, Benton, MO