Girls learn the power of money

Shirley Paxor, 10, thinks that as she grows up, she can "save some money, get a great job and go on a vacation, maybe to California" — a dream location for a future fashion designer. Her friend Abigail Colata, 9, plans to get a job and put money aside so she can study to become a lawyer.

And Ken Burnett thinks the fact the two girls and a dozen or so of their girlfriends are learning abut savings and credit and how money works will make almost any dream they have possible.

Wednesday afternoon, Burnett and other volunteers from the Bank of American Fork spent an hour at Mountain View Elementary School teaching money skills to Latina girls in the bilingual Nuevo Dia, a life-skills-building program run by Centro de la Familia.

"The world goes so fast, it doesn't stop to say, 'Here's a core skill you will need from the moment you can read and write,' " said Burnett, training director for the bank. "This is an opportunity to reach out to part of the community that doesn't normally get formal education on finance as part of their education."

The bank adapted a core program created by the American Bankers Association to make it more interactive, using a lemonade stand and other variables to drive home messages on compound interest, the difference between checks and credit cards and how to obtain your wants and your needs.

Who knew, some of the girls giggled afterward, that if you gave up one soda pop a week for a year and socked the money away, you'd have enough to see a bunch of movies at the theater?

To "earn" money, Lucero Aguilar, 10, and Burnett opened a lemonade stand that was, alas, off the beaten path. They didn't make a lot of money. But they took most of what they did earn and hired help, advertised and added cookies to the menu. The result was a dramatic increase in business, because, as Mirtica Ramos, 11, noted, "You have to spend money to make money."

The grow-money message hit home for Lucy Vasquez, 10, who said she now believes she can have a yard sale and earn money. Jenny Landa, 9, was most impressed that "if you save money, it will get bigger." And Yoanna Gonzalez, 10, was pleased that there are so many different types of jobs that will let you earn money and buy the things you want.

The workshop is part of the ABA's "Teach Children to Save" program, which has reached more than a million youths.

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