Greenburgh kids learn basics of banking - by opening one



BY DWIGHT R. WORLEY • DWORLEY@LOHUD.COM • JANUARY 28, 2010

GREENBURGH — Another week, another $4 for Corey Neil. But the 8-year-old, who gets the small paycheck as part of the Xposure after-school program in Greenburgh, isn't racing to the candy store. As he has for the past year, he is squirreling it away in a bank account, excited to watch his balance grow.

"I'll always save and keep money in the bank," said Corey, who is in the third grade at Highview Elementary School in the Greenburgh school district. "When I get older there are going to be things that I need that are more important. I'll always have what I need."

It became a bit easier for Corey and 130 other students in the town-sponsored after-school program to save last week, when officials held the grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the Xposure Kids Bank.

Operating out of a room in the Theodore D. Young Community Center, students will serve as tellers and managers of the make-shift bank, using it to open accounts and make deposits and withdrawals.

It isn't a real bank, of course. But, with stanchions, velvet ropes and employees decked out in blazers and name tags, it looks like one. And, most importantly, the children handle real money, said Raymond Thomas, Xposure's founder and executive director.

"The lesson we're teaching them is save, save, save, not spend," said Thomas, as a line of children deposited and cashed their checks. "When a kid can see week to week that their bank account is growing, it will instill a certain confidence, a certain sense of pride in them."

The not-for-profit, New York City-based Xposure Foundation Inc. has run the homework help and enrichment after-school program in the community center for 16 months.

Funded by the town and with a grant from the Lanza Family Foundation, students in the program earn $4 to $8 a week to participate in daily lessons on ethics, financial literacy, technology, nutrition and other subjects. At least half of each paycheck is deposited monthly into accounts at a real local bank.

But now they will make weekly deposits in the program's bank. By handling the transactions themselves, children learn how to manage money, reinforcing the program's lessons on saving and financial responsibility, said Donald Cannon, a retired businessman and investor who serves as a consultant to Xposure, helping to design financial literacy lessons.

Students are also learning about the world of work, he said. They interviewed for jobs and work as managers, assistant managers, tellers and security guards.

"This is learning about the real world," said Cannon, 52, who lives in Greenburgh. "When our kids go on interviews, they will know to say: 'I will do whatever I have to to learn this job.' "

"We're learning a lot about finances, checks and banking," said bank manager Ariana Jones, 11, who attends Good Counsel Academy Elementary School in White Plains. "They're teaching us new things we might not learn in school."

The bank will serve as a cornerstone for lessons in finance, but Xposure will expand the program, Thomas said. Next month, students will begin buying stock — some have already purchased shares in large companies — and using a makeshift credit card to learn about debt and the responsible use of credit.

It's been nearly two years since the town authorized Xposure to run the after-school program. It initially drew widespread criticism from residents who didn't want to lose the existing homework help program. Taxpayers also complained about the cost and questioned Thomas' credentials.

Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said most parents now support Xposure. He said the lessons children learn there will carry them through adulthood. "I think Xposure is a real model for education," Feiner said.

Article taken from LoHud.com