It's "payday" in Jill Strand's classroom at Glacier Edge Elementary School in Verona.
Strand's third-graders rush toward plastic bins crammed with parent-donated school supplies and trinkets, eager to cash the weekly mock paychecks issued by Strand for classroom jobs like collecting library books and checking desks for tidiness.
"They don't understand how much they're really learning," says Strand. "They see it as fun, free-choice time."
But in a sign that a deeper financial message is resonating, not all students are quick to part with the hard-earned classroom currency the paychecks are exchanged for. Kate Veak tucks her "Strand Bucks" away, saying she is saving for something bigger, like a hardcover book.
Strand recently chronicled her lessons in savings and investing in "Financial Literacy: TEACH IT!," a series of online teacher vignettes compiled by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, which won a 2010 award from the Governor's Council on Financial Literacy for the project. Strand says she may soon introduce her third-graders to the concept of sales tax and is considering letting them borrow from their classroom bank, potentially leading to discussions about credit card interest and maybe even payday loans.
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