YES Collaborates with Explore More Discovery Museum to Promote Economics & Financial Literacy.
YES and its Board partnered with Mike Gochenour of Janney Montgomery Scott and many area banks including Truist, Atlantic Union Bank, Bank of the James, Blue Ridge Bank, Carter Bank & Trust, F&M Bank, Pendleton Community Bank, Wells Fargo Bank to collaborate with the Explore More Discovery Museum in Downtown Harrisonburg to develop a Cash Flow Ball Maze on the 2nd floor of the museum. Recent studies in financial literacy suggest many of people’s savings habits are formed by the time they finish 5th grade. The Ball Maze addresses the need for financial literacy at a young age and will be an exciting and enticing area for children, incorporating important economic and financial literacy concepts.
John Kruggel, YES funded teacher advocate and consultant, is working closely with Explore More’s exhibit designer to develop extension activities around the Ball Maze that will reinforce concepts required by the Virginia Economics SOLs for the K-5 level. These extensions are designed to actively engage students in learning about earning, investing, spending, saving and sharing through hands-on games and play-based learning.
The Ball Maze combines students’ love of play with personal finance content that is both accurate and accessible for elementary learners. Activities around the exhibit will reinforce concepts such as diversifying investments through playing games like skee ball. Others will demonstrate the trade-offs of spending versus saving and difficulties of balancing wants versus needs. A lemonade stand will illustrate how costs affect profit for business owners. Students will be exposed to money from all over the world and learn how money works. Each concept presented will be strengthened through the power of play.
YES Develops Financial Literacy Materials for Museum Field Trips.
John Kruggel, YES funded teacher advocate and consultant, will also work closely with the museum’s field trip coordinator to create fun and engaging exercises and activities as well as age-appropriate economics and financial literacy materials for school field trips. Students will learn how scarcity forces people to make choices, how people earn money, what money is and why people save, as well as why people trade. Each field trip will be designed to meet the needs of teachers and their students in a fun and engaging manner and will reinforce economics and financial literacy concepts specifically tailored for the grade level of the learners.
