The Money Bus

Last Wednesday I got a chance to volunteer to help with "The Money Bus", which made a stop at Barr-Reeve. Megan talked about it for two weeks prior to the date. She kept telling me how awesome it was going to be and for me to make sure I didn't forget the date. She even wrote it on the calendar before I had a chance too! She was way beyond excited about it. Now I know why she was so excited. It was the coolest thing. The Money Bus...is a million dollar bus the size of an ivy coach bus...that has been detailed out to simulate places we spend money every day. All the 4th graders got a chance throughout the day to come on the bus. The idea is to teach the kids about budgeting their money and banking. The teachers worked with the students prior to the money bus coming. They had a budget worksheet they had filled out to help them with their money bus experience. They chose "summer jobs" from which they would earn their "paycheck". Megan chose "pet care provider"..no surprise as she LOVES animals and is a natural with them..must be because she is the farmer's daughter :-).

In the picture above is the nice Money Bus Instructor, Sandy. She gave the kids an orientation of the make shift bank..(that's where I was the teller!) She also explained how today money is becoming more of a concept with automated deposits, transfers, & withdrawls a lot of kids don't actually see moms and dads writing bills and handling cash like we did growing up and think you can just use the plastic ATM cards for everything and not realize you actually have to put the money in the bank. She was very good with the kids and you could just see the kids were little sponges soaking in every word she said. She also explained to them that CREDIT CARDS were BAD to use for purchases and encouraged them to put their money into savings and then when they have the money then they go make the purchase! I was thinking maybe we should send our congress members & Big Time CEOs through this money bus and maybe our economy wouldn't be so bad???? Ok sorry for going off on that tagent..Anyway so they came to the our room the make shift bank and were issued their paychecks, in which they had to endorse and make out their deposit slips, which in turn they brought to me the "teller" to open an account at the bank. They had to figure out how much they wanted to put into their checking, savings, and how much cash they wanted back. And then I issued them their "debit card", receipt for their deposits, and gave them a check so they could fill it out to purchase their ticket for the money bus. So after they left my station then thy went to the "ticket sales lady" where they had to present her with the check they wrote out and then they got to head over to the money bus that was parked outside.

(Megan & I opening her account)
Then while on the money bus they had different simulators of ATM's where they could check their account balances, also ice cream stand, which was computerized..they could purchase a basic cone for a certain $$ amount but if they wanted sprinkles or whip cream, etc... then each of those were an additional cost so they really had to learn that every little extra thing costs you more money! There were certain machines that only accepted cash just like in the real world. Also they had stations that would ask them questions about money/finances and if they got the answers right then they could earn more money.
One of the stations that surprised "Sandy", the money bus lady, was the donation station. She said Barr-Reeve's students have been the most giving of all the schools throughout the state of Indiana...even if it is just "play money" it really reflects their morals and values...so that made me smile I just hope that stays with the kids as they grow older and still are as giving as they were in the 4th grade!
It was a lot of fun to help out and talk to the kids and to see they were so eager to learn about how to handle their money and the money bus was very well organized and did an amazing job of teaching the kids not only "math concepts" but also "Life Lessons" that they will hopefully apply later on in life. I hope they come back next year so Natalie has a chance to experience the money bus too!