Background

The ABC’s of Money Management Program is a five-week to six-week financial literacy program designed to provide educational seminars and classroom instruction to local high school students regarding the concepts of basic money management, financial discipline, and investing. Julia Richer, author and developer of the ABC’s curriculum, began the program in 2001 as a cooperative endeavor with the Community Relations Department at A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc. Over the years, the ABC’s program, as a community outreach effort, has touched students from organizations such as Inroads, Upward Bound, and the Youth Lifeline Football Skills camp.

During the fall of 2008, the St. Louis Financial Services Coalition (STLFSC), an interest group of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC), decided to champion the ABC’s Program as part of its initial effort to fulfill the organization’s mission to promote community education and financial empowerment. Through partnership with the St. Louis Public Schools District (SLPS) and Beaumont High School, STLFSC piloted a spring 2009 initiative to reach out to students who were enrolled in Beaumont’s Personal Finance and Introduction to Business classes. Through the ABC’s Program, over 20 volunteers from the financial services community in St. Louis donated their time, energy, and knowledge to inspire young people by bringing a message of financial awareness, responsibility, and empowerment to the nearly 70 sophomores, juniors, and seniors who comprised Beaumont’s Finance Academy.

Due to the success of the program in 2009 the Division of Career and Technical Education (CTE) of SLPS invited us to expand The ABC’s of Money Management to seven (7) high schools: Beaumont, Gateway, Northwest, Roosevelt, Soldan, Sumner, and Vashon in 2010.

Curriculum

The acronym of “ABC’s” covers Assessment, Budgeting Basics, Banking Basics, Checking Accounts, Controlling Your Cash Flow, and Controlling Credit.  Over the weeks our volunteers discuss, in an interactive manner, these fundamentals of financial literacy.

Students are  given a Pre-Test the week before the start of the program in order to provide a baseline measure for their level of knowledge of basic financial matters. Additionally, volunteers administered a Post-Test during the last class session to measure the students’ progress from the beginning to the end of the program.

Throughout the program weeks, students learned the concepts of Net Worth and Cash Flow Statements, Goal Setting and Budgeting, Banking and Checkbook Management, Debt and Credit, Compounding and Investments, and College and Retirement preparation through classroom discussion, hands-on exercises, and even team competitions.

Through corporate sponsorship and increased volunteer efforts, the program will be poised to continue to make a difference in the lives of youth both in and beyond the city of St. Louis.

How to Volunteer

1. Complete the Volunteer Data Form.
   
2. Email completed form to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
3. Attend a Volunteer Training Class
4. Review your curriculum
5. Go to selected/assigned school (Arrive at least 10-15 prior to start of class)