Project Based Learning Electives provided by the Berrien Springs Virtual Academy
Personal Finance                         Spring 2022

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Personal Finance - what every parent wishes they'd learned earlier and thinks every kid should learn before graduation.  Here's your chance!  

Are you considering working someday in the subjects of other classes you're taking - art, music, agriculture, tech, etc?  
Every student who takes JA Personal Finance will have the opportunity to apply the skills learned in this class as the basis of the project for any other class on his or her schedule, with support from Tom.  

​Additional registration at location is NOT required.

Teacher: Tom Hurst
loonling.lc@gmail.com
Location:  Cycle Re Cycle, Community Room,  159 E. Napier, Benton Harbor, other location possible depending on group size.
Ages:  11-18,  younger allowed with parent present or instructor permission.
High school and Middle school students will have separate programs.

Class time Wednesday 3:00 PM - 4:15.  For 10 weeks Starting January 19, 2022
Finance Park attendance at BC Fairgrounds required:  Date April 29.

Here is a program for students to learn real world economic skills that apply to their own lives now and in the future.  The activities will include application for the students PBL essential questions.   Tom will assist with the integration of the weekly assignments and connections to other classes.  Additional Extension activities are available for home study if desired.

Teens don’t often think about paying a water bill, buying health insurance, or saving for retirement, but at JA Finance Park they do. The half day or possibly daylong visit to this simulated, fully interactive business park brings their in-class learning to life. Students receive family scenarios, complete with job title, marital and family status, income, existing savings, and existing debt. Then they visit park businesses to explore their options and better understand the items based on their assigned family needs and then go shopping. They must purchase items to meet the needs of their family, such as insurance, clothing, transportation, housing, groceries, and childcare—without spending more than they earn.

Tom is highly qualified to teach this program following years of middle and high school teaching where business and personal finance concepts were blended into agricultural and industrial education activities.  

Specific activities.

• Identify personal interests, skills, work preferences, and values. 
• Identify career interests.
• Evaluate the risks and benefits of saving and investing. 
• Evaluate risk and recognize insurance as a way to minimize it. 
• Define taxes; explain their purpose; and understand how they affect everyone. 
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using credit and debit cards. 
• Explain who uses a budget and why. 
• Identify the components of a successful budget.
 • Create a successful budget using hypothetical life situations

 Participation in the half day or possibly daylong Finance Park activity at the fairgrounds is required.
Syllabus


*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two meetings. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so choose wisely; if you do not take the class off of your student's schedule by the deadline, you may be asked to pay for the class time incurred prior to dropping the class.
Teacher of Record: Becky Halcombe K-8 and Mark Ring 9-12