Audio clip
Tammy Zumbrun
After purchasing 198 shares of Arbuckle’s Snacks, 11-year-old Joey Welch immediately turned around and sold his stock for a small profit.
“Right now I’m trying to get my profit to go up,” he said, quickly alternating between the “buy” and “sell” buttons on a touch-screen computer. “I’m just trying to make as much money as I can.”
Joey, a fifth-grader at Clifton Hills Elementary School, beefed up his stock portfolio Monday at Moneyville, a temporary exhibit at the Creative Discovery Museum to teach young students about the history of currency, balancing a budget and spotting counterfeit bills.
Officials at the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union, one of the exhibit’s sponsors, gave their 100 free tickets to students and teachers at Clifton Hills and Tommie F. Brown Academy of Classical Learning.
“Maybe this is just a teaser for kids to go home and ask their parents how to balance a budget,” said Becca Whitaker, a community relations specialist for the credit union. “It’s a fun way for kids to learn about money.”
Clifton Hills teacher Tracy Crosby said the interactive market, the display on bartering and the Kids’ Bank were great interactive tools for her students, who just finished up a unit on economics.
Aisha Hardley, 10, said she particularly enjoyed posing with her friends and getting her picture printed on U.S. currency.
“I’m going to get my picture blown up and make it my wallpaper if my dad will let me,” she said.
Yasmin Foster and Jasmin Perkins, both 11, spent part of Monday morning behind the counter at the Kids’ Bank.
“Welcome to Kids’ Bank. How can I help you?” Jasmin asked one of her Clifton Hills classmates as she put away some of the oversized, plastic change.
Turning to Yasmin, she asked, “Can we do that? She wants to apply for a job.”
First Tennessee Bank, First Volunteer Bank, Bank of America and SunTrust Bank also sponsored Moneyville.
MONEYVILLE
* What: Interactive exhibit teaching kids about money
* Where: Creative Discovery Museum
* When: On display until May 4
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
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