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ABOUT...

       Hi! My name is Kelsey and I'm the creator of this website.  As I write this I am coming close to the end of a very long journey, not only as a senior in high school but also finally achieving my Girl Scout Gold Award.  It is the highest award a girl can earn in Girl Scouts.   My project’s goal is to increase financial literacy by exposing students to financial/money related terms and practical examples of budgeting and credit cards before their final year in high school. 

        My journey began in 2012 when Girl Scouts celebrated its centennial anniversary. That summer I was honored to be a girl representative for my home region at the Girl Scout World Forum in Chicago, Illinois.  In the week that I stayed there, I worked with over 500 girls from over 90 countries.  The theme of the forum was the United Nations Millennium Development goals of environmental sustainability, gender equality, and eliminating poverty.   To that end, we worked on projects, participated in discussions, and shared cultural traditions while in Chicago.  At the end of the forum, everyone was tasked to create a lasting project that would help our own community in one of these areas.     

 

Breaking Down the Curriculum…

          Once I returned home, I did extensive research and surveying to determine how I could make a difference. I made two observations. First, that poverty was affecting a large number of families in my community and, without the appropriate skills, the cycle will continue on into future generations. From my own experience, after 12 years of schooling I felt I was not prepared to set out into the world and live self-sufficiently. So, with my project, I want to create a lasting legacy in schools that would help educate students for future financial situations.  After surveying teachers and working with school administrators, I found that the major obstacle was fitting these topics into the already demanding curriculum. In the end, I decided to create three key lessons that were short, sweet, and to the point. As a student, I used my unique perspective to craft understandable lessons while collaborating with professionals and teachers in my community. I compiled all the information I had collected and made the lessons you will find on this site.   I directed multiple pilot groups in order to edit the lessons and trim down the materials so that they could be taught within a certain time frame.  Now, each can be taught within a 30 minute to 1 hour period. Originally, the lessons were directed toward math curriculums.  They could be related to real world situations while in a math environment but after much editing the lessons transformed into ones that could be used in any educational setting or subject.

        Each lesson has note takers, optional activities, visual presentations (PowerPoint and FlipChart), and summary quizzes for varying education levels.  The PowerPoint is narrated by me.   These lessons expose students to financial information that will be vital to their daily lives during and after school.  You will find these materials by clicking the Lesson Plan tab.  You will also find links to other relevant information by clicking on the Other Resources tab.

        I hope that you will make a difference in your community and help ensure a better future for the next generation.

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