Inside our schools: Theater program teaches children about handling money
A dramatic approach to teaching children about money is scheduled for Centennial Middle School eighth-graders through “Mad About Money,” a traveling theater show.
The show will be held Tuesday evening at Centennial at no cost to the group. Sponsored by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions, performers with the National Theatre for Children, Inc. will teach 100 Centennial eighth-grade students and their parents about the principles of saving and spending, with a mixture of personal finance and humor.
The 100 students are participants in the GEAR-UP scholarship grant.
“Mad About Money” combines improv comedy and education techniques to help students understand the basics of personal finance. The production is set to tour three middle schools in the greater Spokane area during May, and NTC troupes will also present the program at schools in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Yakima and Vancouver.
The show features professional actors who play a variety of colorful characters in four sketches. While watching a dad teach his son the difference between “needs” and “wants,” or an unsuspecting car buyer learn about credit from a smooth-talking salesman, students learn to prioritize how their money is spent, the importance of developing a savings habit and ways to invest for the future.
Beyond the in-school performances, “Mad About Money” program components include educational workbooks, take-home activities, Internet exercises, guidebooks, curricular aids for teachers, and a rigorous testing method for measuring program results. For more information about NTC and Mad About Money, visit www.nationaltheatre.com.
Student presentations earn honors
Several students from Spokane Valley received awards at the recent Spokane Youth Environmental Conference. More than 150 middle and high school students gathered at Spokane Community College May 1 to showcase their environmental science projects.
Students prepared an oral presentation or a poster exhibit, examining a facet of environmental science. Among 48 presentations and 21 posters, 27 students received a superior ranking. They included:
Bowdish Middle School: (poster) Alisha Pierce – School’s a Waste
Central Valley High School: (presentation) Cameron Allen, Mitchell Dumais, Philip Keeve – Water Quality Testing for Irrigation Purposes; Cathy Troung, Amanda Savage, Ashley Underwood – Likin’ Lichens; Rachelle Parsloe – Wasted Energy; Alexandria Arthun-Roullier, Katie Ronngren – Fluorescent Bulbs and Energy Conservation; Jacob Amini, Nathaniel Coulson, Kyle Siddoway – UV Sterilization of Water; and Hilary Lake – Plastic Poison.
Freeman Middle School: (posters) Andrea Zimmerman, Christina Ramelow – Resolution to River Pollution; Cappy Spruance, Talia Neiman – Natural Nastiness; Jenna Lee, Chelsea Grady – The Good, The Bad, The Dirty.
Award given to Even Start, ECEAP
The Central Valley Even Start Family Literacy Program and the Early Childhood Education Assistance Program received a 2007 SPO-CAN Council Award for outstanding contributions toward creating a “Circle of Security” for children in the community.
The annual awards are presented by the SPO-CAN Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.
Housed in the Central Valley Early Learning Center, Even Start is an education program for low-income families that is designed to improve the academic achievement of young children and their parents through adult literacy, parenting education, early childhood education and interactive parent and child literacy time.
ECEAP is a family-focused preschool program to help children and families succeed in school and life.
Liberty Lake Kiwanis honored
The Liberty Lake Kiwanis was recently given the Community Leadership Award by the Northeast Washington Association of School Administrators .
The Central Valley School District nominated Kiwanis members Dennis Crumb, Linda and Pat Dockrey, Jim Hitter, Mike and Pat Lutzenberg, Mary Lee Nickoloff, Louise Quirk and Ross Rudeen based on their service to the district and its students.
At Liberty Lake Elementary School, the Kiwanis has cooked for families on Back to School open house night, helped with booths at the school’s carnival, and bought the pins and flags for students who take the citizenship test in the fifth grade.
The Kiwanis has also worked with the students of Liberty Lake Elementary’s K-Kids Club, a community service club of fourth- and fifth-graders that has performed countless hours of community service.
Additionally, the Kiwanis group has been active at Barker High School, assisting students with scholarships, fundraising, leadership training, mentoring as well as supporting the teen parent program and providing community service opportunities.