Teaching kids the value of a dollar

So you’ve just turned 18 and now it’s time to move out on your own.

For many, those days are a distant memory, but for students at Canadian Martyrs Catholic School, near Woodbine Avenue and O’Connor Drive, those days are in the not-so-distant future.

For well over a decade the school has been helping its grade 7 and 8 students prepare to make important financial decisions by welcoming members of the Junior Achievement program into classrooms. The international organization teaches nearly 230,000 Canadian children about financial literacy each year.

On Nov. 30, Telus Mobility helped Junior Achievement by presenting them with $250,000 donation in front of about 25 Canadian Martyrs’ students.  

“We ran a program this year where for every smartphone that a small business bought we donated $50,” said Jim Senko, vice president of small business marketing for Telus. “Through all of the sales we generated $250,000 and then we donated that.”

Junior Achievement’s senior vice-president of operations and education, Stephen Ashworth, said the sum is the largest ever donated to the organization’s Central Ontario branch. Currently, he said, requests for programs like the one taught at Canadian Martyrs outnumber the amount of programs provided by five to one.

“Our demand outstrips our supply and that’s really always the challenge for Junior Achievement,” Ashworth said. “They will actually be able to deliver more programs as a result of this and to more students.”

Junior Achievement programs are taught by volunteers from the business sector. As part of the program at Canadian Martyrs entitled Dollars with Sense, taught by Telus employee Cliff Hatch, students were asked to calculate their estimated future monthly expenses by filling in a list of typical costs. Listed on the first page of their sheets were things such as food, rent and utilities. Following those three items were telephone, cellphone, and further down the first page, “bundle telephone/cell/cable and internet basic 3-year contract required.”

While Senko said he did not know if Telus has any say in what is included in the programs they sponsor, Ashworth said his organization is vigilant about corporate influence on subject matter.

“Our programs go through a various rigorous process and the new programs that are coming out actually have the Curriculum Services of Canada seal, which is an outside audit,” Ashworth said.

The grade 8 class Hatch spoke to on Nov. 30 is regularly taught by educator Chris Collins. He said he doesn’t mind giving up the reins one day a year if it helps his students become better money managers.

“I’ve been having them in for about 20 years and it’s an amazing help,” he said. “It fits right in with our guidance program. It’s exactly what we’re doing in terms of making them start to think about the future, determining what they think success is.”

He also said teaching his students about cellphone finances was appropriate for the age group.

“It’s definitely the first expense they’re going to have because they have them now,” he said.

At least one of his students, Jeffery Viray, already has a cellphone. The aspiring architect said he learned a lot from the class.

“It’s really helpful because in the future I know what to do to pay my bills and my rent,” he said.

At one point, Viray and his peers were taught a hard lesson in budgeting. Teacher-for-a-day Hatch, pulled out a photo of a Porsche 911, much to the delight of many of the students. After hearing the nearly six-figure price tag attached to it, Viray demonstrated he had already developed some financial savvy.

“I’m just going to get a metropass,” he said.