Spend+Save+Share+Blog

Using ¢ hange for Change: Students Learn about the Importance of Sharing Globally  //Lauren Samuelson, Alternatives FCU//
 * March 29th, 2010:**

The 4th and 5th grade students in the Spend, Save, Share financial education program at Belle Sherman Elementary School are getting a lesson in the importance of global citizenship. The groups recently decided to share half of the proceeds from their group entrepreneur project with relief efforts in Haiti. While all of the students knew that a terrible earthquake had devastated the island nation, few could point to it on a map and even fewer understood the crippling poverty experienced by Haitians long before the earthquake struck. And while the group was grateful to have the chance to help those in need, they were curious about how their money would be used and had questions about Haiti.

Enter Dianne Walters and Dr. Marie Constant, two extraordinary women with ties to Haitian communities. Ms Walters leads biannual mission trips to Banique, a rural village north of the capital, and Dr. Constant is a Haitian immigrant with close ties to family and friends living in Port-au-Prince. Both women came to meet our students and talk with them about life in Haiti before and after the earthq uake and about the importance of being engaged global citizens and sharing with those in need around the world.

The students had the opportunity to ask questions about the lives of their peers living in Haiti and were excited to learn that, despite many differences, Haitian children enjoy many of the same games and study the same subjects as they do and while the earthquake caused horrible destruction and many deaths, the Haitian people are working hard with the help of people from all-around the world to rebuild their nation.

The conversations started with Ms. Walters and Dr. Constant didn’t end when our speakers left however, the students at Belle Sherman are excited to start a pen-pal project with students in Banique who will be starting an S3 project of their own! We were lucky to spend time with both Ms. Walters and Dr. Constant and the group is looking forward to continuing the Spend, Save, Share project!

Visualizing and Setting Savings Goals //Lauren Samuelson, Alternatives FCU// ​When reporters interviewed Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees following the Saints' victory, they asked the quarterback, who is inches shorter than the average NFL quarterback, what makes him successful. Brees told reporters that in addition to strenuous physical workouts, he also has worked hard to train his mind. Brees credits his success and his ability to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory to //visualization.// For Brees, it's all about putting mind over muscle. In a [|recent article] with the Wall Street Journal, Brees is quoted as saying,
 * March 3rd, 2010:**

//“The quarterback position is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical,” Brees says. “I try to simulate the game as much as I can in practice and visualize every play and every defense we could see. In essence I’m playing the game over and over so that no matter what situation happens, I’ve already played it and can anticipate what will happen.”//

Visualization is not just for professional football players, it's an important tool we all can use to reach our goals. Children have amazing imaginations so visualization won't be hard for them. In fact, according to John Lanza, the creator of the [|Money Mammals Series] and author of the [|Kids and Money] blog, it's easier for kids than adults because of their incredible imaginations. Help your kids stretch their mental muscles and get financially fit too by teaching them about setting and visualizing their savings goals. Encourage your students to visualize their goals -- short term and long term. Then ask them to think about and write down the steps in will take to get there. (Check out Lesson 12 for visualization and savings goal activities.) Then have the students create a picture or a word / phrase that represents their goal.

The visualization process helps make goals seem more attainable and helps us remain focused on achieving that goal. And, v isualization is a tool they'll take with them forever. As John Lanza writes, "If Drew Brees in any indication, visualization can help you achieve pretty much anything you or your kids can dream up!"

**March 1st, 2010:** The story of Alphonse Desjardins, the father of Canadian credit unions and financial education, //From A.J.'s a Community Financial Sponsored Zine for Middle-School Students //

He showed them how to take control of their money. By doing so, he became one of the most famous people in his country.
 * Save for Later**



Alphonse Desjardins (al-FONS day-ZHAR-din) was born and raised in turbulent times—right after the social and economic chaos brought about by the industrial revolution. He wanted to change it—to help people pull themselves out of their distress. Technical advances resulting from the **Industrial Revolution** meant that traditional agrarian economy was replaced with a machine economy. Small farmers suddenly needed to have modern equipment if they wanted to compete and survive. Small farmers who couldn't afford new equipment would borrow money from to pay for it. About 500,000 French Canadians moved to US cities because they lost their homes, land, and machinery to these unscrupulous lenders. They found little work. Factories were closing, people were rioting for food, and crime was rising. Conditions were harsh even for those who had jobs—especially children. Employers ruthlessly used workers for their own profit.
 * Industrial Revolution**

Humble beginnings
His father, Francois Desjardins, was a farmer from Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. When his farm failed, he moved with his wife and children to Levis, in search of work. **Levis** sits directly across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, the capitol of Quebec, Canada. On Nov. 5, 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Desjardins' eighth child, Alphonse, was born. The family grew to include 15 children, seven boys and eight girls. Not long after they settled in Levis, something terrible happened. François was seriously injured at his job and could not work anymore. His wife was forced to wash, iron, and mend the clothes of well-to-do families to support her family. Desjardins grew up with all the hardships of the poor. But his parents raised him with strong morals and religious beliefs. His mother insisted that he get an education. And young Alphonse dreamed of ways to ease her burdens. At age 16, Desjardins left college to help support his family. He joined the Canadian militia, an army of civilian volunteers, during the **Red River Rebellion** and returned to Quebec to become a reporter.
 * Levis, Quebec**

Cooperative beginnings
 Alphonse and his wife Dorimene started the first caisse populaire //in their home.// In his reporting career, Desjardins studied economics and social science. He saw that the average worker had no access to low-cost or banking services. When average people needed to borrow money, they turned to loan sharks. The loan sharks made people pay back a lot more money than they borrowed. For example, a man took a $150 to save his family from going completely broke. He had to to the lender for that loan. Charging that high is called "usury." Because of this, Michael Quinn, a member of the Canadian House of Commons, submitted a bill that would forbid usury. Desjardins was working as a reporter in the House of Commons on the day Quinn introduced the bill. Desjardins decided to help common workers borrow money at a reasonable cost. His younger brother Napoleon showed him an article about in Rochdale, England. With some research, Desjardins found that Canada already had a few cooperative bakeries and stores. Desjardins studied banking cooperatives in Europe. He became certain that Canada needed cooperative banks, or credit unions. Cooperatives could lend people money for a small price. All the people who use a cooperative own it. Everyone would have equal power to elect leaders to the credit union's no matter how much money they had in their accounts. The first Canadian credit union opened for business on Jan. 23, 1901 in the Desjardins' house. It was named //La Caisse Populaire de Lévis// (meaning "people's bank of Levis"). On its first day, the credit union gathered $26.40 in deposits. Desjardins handled all of the transactions—a job for which he did not get paid.  "...this credit union is also and above all a school for thrift...it must teach respect for the penny—which is so little considered that it is wasted at times criminally, surely always a wrong," Desjardins told the congress of youth at Quebec. In the late 1800s, much like today, many young people didn't put much thought into how they spent money. Often, they would spend what they had on items they wanted right now. Desjardins hoped his school for thrift would convince young people to think about what they might want or need in the future and save some of their money for that. People could live better lives, thought Desjardins, if they planned ahead and saved their money. Students can help manage credit unions in their schools. This is especially true for those who begin saving money in their youth. Desjardins wrote that children who learn to save are less likely to spend money foolishly as adults. He helped organize many youth savings clubs and in-school "banks," known as //caisses scolaires//. Desjardins believed that people who live in fair conditions behave honestly. Even crime could be diminished through savings.
 * High Interest**
 * A school for thrift**

Continuing the mission
The second location of St. Mary's Bank Credit Union building is now America's Credit Union Museum. Desjardins helped form 206 credit unions in Canada and the U.S. Today, his work helps millions of people save money. Credit unions continue to be schools for thrift too. Young people not only save their money at credit unions, some help manage credit unions inside their schools. About 300 credit union branches are located inside elementary, middle, and high schools across the US. All of them are student-run to some extent.

© 2008 CUNA, Inc.