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Econoinic Education Nevvsletter
Remember Your First Paycheck?
a co ll ege degree unless he's enrolled in a college prep course or
will change to a co ll ege prep
course. ''
The students are issued " Math
City" checkbooks and must write
checks to meet all their expenses.
They h ave to keep track of deposits and c h ecks as they occur
and reconcile the checkbook at the
end of the month.
They research the kind of housing they prefer and its cost and report to the teacher. They make a
monthly payment for this kind of
housing . They receive monthly
" bills" (when applicab le) for heat,
electricity, gas, phone, property
taxes, furniture, and water. They
write checks for these expenses.
The students explore the options
open for transportation and "buy"
the vehicle of their choice. They
then make monthly payments for
the purchase price and operating
cost of the vehicle.
One student had worked out
that he had about $85/ month to
spend on a car payment. When he
went to the local car dealer, however, he found that the super
sports car that he wanted would
run him about $ 135/ month to
purchase, and so ("with no
Remember your first paycheck?
Remember how much was left after taxes and after you paid the
landlord , the electric company,
the gas company, the telephone
company , and bought the
groceries? There wasn't much left
for new clothes or movies or eating out, was there? And it was
quite a shock. Geraldine Phelps, a
teacher at the Merrimack Valley
High School in Penacook, ew
Hampshire, has developed a
course called "Math for Everyday
Living" which can help lessen the
shock for high schoo l students
when they enter the adu lt working
world and can help teach them
how to manage their fami ly
finances.
At the start of the course, the
students comp lete a personal
information sheet (see page 4) and
receive a " paycheck" based on
their vocational aspirations plus
five years of experience. Ms.
Phelps noted that she requires
their aspirations to be in line with
their school coursework and performance. " I won ' t let a student
earn the pay of a neurosurgeon if
he's failing English and natural
science, " she said. "And a student
can ' t get paid for a job requiring
No. _ _ __
$-
-----<
_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ J g _
TO - - - - -- -- - ---<
For -
-
-
Amount
Continued on page 4
@_%---------#9
Math City National Bank
6#
96c)
_ _ _ __
- -- - -- - - - - - l
Bal. Brought
Forward
prompting from me," says Ms.
Phelps) the student told the salesman he could not afford the car
he wanted. Then he asked to see
something more in his price
range.
The students research the insurance necessary to their lifestyle,
receive monthly bills for the insurance and make out checks to
pay the bills. The students investigate family clothing needs
and make appropriate decisions.
T h ey also investigate vacation
possibilities and p lan a vacation
for their family .
For each unexcused absence,
the students are docked one-fifth
of their weekly pay. They are allowed to write checks only as long
as they h ave sufficient funds in
their accou nts. If expenses exceed
income, the students must explore
tJ1e options open to them.
One girl planned that her job
would be administering check-ups
on Volkswagons, using a computer the VW company has developed. She figured she would
eventua ll y have an income of
$175 / week to work with. However, she "purchased" a $64,000
Pay to the
Order of
No. _ _ _ __
_ _ _ _ 19 _ _
$ _ __
_
_
n~p.
Total
Dollars
Am 1 This Check
0
B.al. Carried
Forward
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Vol.3, No.1 • May 1976
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Nevv England Update
MAINE
The Maine Council on Economic
Education is once again publishing its Economic Education News,
with George Cunningham as ex ecutive director of the Council
and P.A. Nixon, who is president
of the Dead River Corporation, as
cha irm an of the Council. The
most recent issue of the newsletter
contained a new newsletter published by Maine bankers. The
banking newsletter explored the
topic of electronic funds transfer
in a well-written and interesting
way. Future issues will deal with
other bank-economic related topics. For information about either
newsletter, contact: ED EC, 22
Coburn Hall , University of
Maine, Orono 04473.
MASSACHUSETTS
Over fifty teachers participated in
the Economic Education Flea
Market at the regional social studies convention held at the Statler
Hilton in Boston early this
month. Ten tables were set up in
a large room and teachers cou ld
visit each "station " to learn about
different projects and techniques
in eco nomic education. Nancy
Powell of Quincy (MA) High
School described a " marriage
project" she ran with students in
which teams of two students each
plan a wedding, reception, honeymoon and a budget for the first
six months of marriage. George
G. Watson of Winchester Senior
High School, who organized the
flea market, described selected activities for teaching economic concepts through science fiction and
future-oriented materials. William
P . O'Connor, director of social
studies at Winchester Senior High
School, described activities for
teaching about the Great Depression. Teachers from all over New
England participated in the
sharing of ideas at the fl ea market.
A seminar in economic education
for secondary school teachers is
planned at the Center for Economic Education at Worcester
State College, running from May
4 to June 3. Applications are now
being accepted for this seminar.
For information, contact Paul
O'Neil, (617)754-6861 at the College. The Center will also be
holding two workshops for elementary and secondary teachers in
Gardner this spring. The Gardner
sessions are booked to capacity.
"The Role of Bu siness in Contemporary American Society" will
be exp lored using the case study
method at a summer workshop
sponsored by the Financial Executives Institute (Boston Chapter)
and the Business History and Economic Life Program, Inc.
(BHELP) The workshop will be
held at the Henderson House
Conference Center of ortheastern
University and will run from July
12-23. The conference center is in
Weston. For information, contact:
Harold A. Miner, Director, Bureau
of Educational Field Services, College of Education, Northeastern
Univers ity, Boston 02115.
The Center for Economic Education at Stonehill College is
planning a one-week workshop
on economics in the secondary
school curriculum to be h eld July
18-23. For information, contact
Robert Hardine, Stonehill College, North Easton 02356. The
Center is also in the process of
creating a resource center which
will expose teachers to the printed
and audio-visual materials available to them in teaching
economics.
EW HAMPSHIRE
A Spring Conference of elementary and secondary school social
studies will be held on May 8 at
Nashua High School from 8:30
a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Approximately
45 section meetings will cover
such topics as economic education, law of the seas, curriculum
development at the local level and
teaching about local government.
For information, contact: Carter
Hart, New Hampshire Department of Education, 64 N. Main
St., Concord 03301.
Businessmen from all over Rhode Island attended the annual meeting of the Rhode Island
Counci l on Economic Education in January. From left to right, they are: William G.
Chafce, treasurer of the Providence Journal Company; Robert Perry, president of the Washington Tru t Company; Alex Donas, vice president of the Jewel Case Corporation; Clement
Williamson. chairman of the Sealol Corporation; Henry Woodbridge, president of Rhode
Island Hospital Trust ' ational Bank; Russell Field, president of Brownell and Field Company; and Erskine White, executive vice president of Textron, Inc.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2
Readers are invited to use The Ledger as a
forum to share news about their experiences in economic education. Write:
Mar)' Jan e Coyle, Editor, Th e Ledger,
Publi c Services, Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston , 30 Pearl Street, Boston 02106 or
call: (617) 426-7100 X462.
Copyrig h1© Fo ll eu Publishing Co. Reproduced by perm iss io n.
MultiMedia
Grade level code: Cap i tal l e tt ers
( E-J - H -C ) aft er eac h i tem i ndica te
g rad e leve ls fo r w hich the materials are
m ost ap propriate: £-elementary school,
] -junior high sc h ool, H - high school,
C-college.
T he Name of the Game is Money
by J ean Conder Soule, (J-H), 24
page , is th e story of four high
school students forming - and financing - th eir own rock bank,
th e " Wh ee ls of Fortun e . "
Produced by the American Banke r s Associa tion, the story stresses
th e banking needs of the group how to open a nd u e a checking
account and how to obtain a loan
- in an interes ting way. Banking
se r v ices a re d esc rib ed a nd th e
bookl et is colorfull y illustra ted . A
crossword puzz le for students h as
bee n d es ig n ed to acqu a int stud ents w ith banking terms, three
f u 11- c o I o r " overhead " tran sparen ies describe ch e k writing,
checkbook balancing and account
s t a t e m e nt bala ncing, and a
teach er · ma nual expl ains how to
use the m a terials. 1972. For a kit
conta ining 30 student booklets, a
teac h e rs m a nu a l, 30 c rossword
puzzles and three overhead tra nsparencies, write: Educa tion Council , The American Ba nkers Associa tion , 11 20 Conn ec ti c ut Av e.,
.W. , W ashington , D. C. 20036,
20 per kit.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Superheroes of Macroeconomics,
(J-H ), by S teve J ack tadt and John
Dawson, Yukio H am ada and Bill
L oc ke, 70 pages, a co mi c-book
fo rm in cl udin g th ree s tories in
whi c h th e s up e rh eroes Fi sca l
Fl as h , M o n e ta ry Man, Militantm a id a nd Wing Sun battle
th e " dual-demon " of infl a tion and
depression to res tore economic stabilit y. T h e s tor ies m a ke inte res tin g readin g a nd th e illustration s m a k e it fun . Each story is
follow ed by a good expl a na tion of
the economic principl es embodied
in the story. Monetary and fi sca l
pol icy are covered , as are wage
a nd price control . " Review and
Applica tio n " q uestio ns tes t understanding or could be used to start
discuss ion. A T eachers' Gu ide is
ava il a bl e. Write: Fo ll ett Publishin g C o m pa n y, c/ o SS R S upe rvisor, 101 0 W. Washington Blvd.,
Chi cago , IL 6 0 60 7, 1. 50 for
Sup erh eroes , $0.84 for T eachers'
Guide.
An American Account: The Story
of Banking, 16 mm color, 30 minutes, an historica l rev iew of American banking from the financing
of the Ameri a n Revolution until
pr ese nt t i m e. T h e m ov i e,
produced by the Am erican Ba nkers Associa tion , u es illustra tions
from the various eras of America n
histor y in a n a ttrac tive and entertaining way. A discuss io n g uide
e l a bor a t es o n th e wo rking of
money a nd ba nking in Am erican
history. To borrow the film free of
3
cha rge, write: Public Informa tion
C e nte r, Fed eral Reserve Bank of
Bos to n, 30 Pearl S t. , Bo to n 02 106
o r ca ll: (6 17)426-7100 X 656.
BICENTENN IAL
DEBATES HELD
IN BOSTON
Regional winners of the Bicent e n n i a I Youth D e b a t e w e r e
cho en April 8 in Bosto n . Winner
o f th e Lin coln -Dougla s debate
was Kristin Stred from Winthrop
High chool in Winthrop, Ma ine.
Winner of the persuasive speaking
event was Pa tricia Falese of acred
H ea rt Aca de m y in H e mp s tea d ,
ew York; a nd winner of the extemporaneous speaking event was
S t e ph e n W e in e r of th e Bronx
Hi g h c h oo l o f Science in ew
York City. Regio na l winners fro m
a ll over the United Sta te will take
pa rt in ceremonies in Washington
in June.
T he Ledger com p il es informa 1io n from
va r ious sources and is p ublished peri od ica ll y as a pu blic service by th e Federa l Reserve Bank of Boston. Inclusion
o f n ews a bo ut eco no mi c edu cat io n
sho uld no t be construed as a n end orsement o f specific p rogra m~ by the
Ba nk . M a te r ia l conta ined herein does
1101 necessa rily refl ect the views of the
Federal Reserve Ban k o f Bos to n or the
Board of Governors . Co pi es o f this
news letter a nd a ca ta logue o f o ther ed ucat ion a I p ubl ica tions, fil ms and pu blished research informa tion may be obta in ed free o f charge by writing: Ban k
a nd P ub li c Inform a ti o n Center. Federa l
Reserve Ba n k o f Boston, 30 Pearl S treet,
Bosto n 02 106 or by ca llin g (6 17) 4267100 X 656.
Paychec½:ominued from pageI
house with a mortgage payment
of $257 / month, a new $4,000 car
and had three dependents to take
care of. By June, she was up to
her neck in " debt." When a Concord represe ntative of Family Financial Services visited the class
in June, they discussed h er problem, he asked her what she would
like to get rid of. The student indicated that she wanted to get rid
of ·'everything and start a ll over
again! " It was a conclusion she
had come to h erself after surveying her own financial
dilemma.
Ms. Phelps stressed that the students each mak e their ow n decision s about how to spend their
income. They are advised to keep
their choices within their budget,
and , in fact, the success or failure
to have sufficient funds to meet
expe ns es beco m es important to
most students. Many will decide
to reduce their spending if their
plann ed expe nditures look like
they will exceed their income.
The students must also budget
for th e un expec ted; th ey draw
cards periodically which m ay send
th e ir d epe nd ents to the hospital
(a nd add on a hospital bill depending on their insurance coverage) or may resu lt in a broken
furnace. (If they rent their apartment, they don't have to purchase
a n ew furnac e; if th ey have
bought a home, they have to buy
a n e w one , thu s exp erienc ing
so m e of the furth er implicat ions
of their decision to rent or buy a
home.)
Many of the students say tha t
they would prefer to budget as individuals , instead of as fam ilies,
but Ms . Ph e lps insists th at th ey
take h a lf the number of peopl e in
th e ir present fam iii es as dependents since she feels th at most
of the class will indeed marr y and
h ave to budget for a family .
Durin g th e course, stress is
placed on decision making, the
fa c tors in volved in the decisions
the students m ake, the economic
implica tions of the dec isions and
the math skills necessary to make
so und d ec ision s. Teachers interested in learning more a bout this
cou rse can contact Ms. Phelps at
Merrimack Vall ey High Sch oo l m
Penacook, N .H.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PERSON AL INFORMATION SHEET
I.
Name:
2.
Town of residence:
3.
Number of people living in your hom e?
4.
Do you live in a hou se, an apartment or a mobil e home?
5.
Do you h ave a phone?
6.
Names of phone company and electrical company? (There
are different co mp anies in the Penacook region which
ch arge different rates.)
7.
List nam es and numbers of major gas and elec tric appliances in your hom e:
8.
Primary source of h eat in your home?
9.
Does your family raise a garden?
10. Does your family raise its own meat, poultry, etc.?
11 . Does your fami ly preserve food for la ter use?
12. What mak e a nd model car(s) does your fam ily own?
13. Wh at types of insurance coverage does your fam il y h ave?
14. Does your family own a snowmobile, boat, trailbike, second
home, camper or o th er recreationa l item?
THE TWO DOLLAR BILL IS BACK! As of April 13, two dollar bills were once again
ava il ab le at commercial banks throughout the nation. If the " twos" replace one-half the
one dollar bills in circulation , th e Treasury could realize a sav ings in printing costs of $4-7
milli on a yea r over the next few years. A four-page pamphlet about the new bill, " Two
Dollar Points," is avai lable free of charge from the Bank and Public Information Center,
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 30 Pearl St., Boston 02106.
4
