Classroom Economy:

The Economic Experience

Vail High School

FBLA
American
Enterprise Project
2015 2016
Arizona

Table of Contents

02
04
05
07
10
13

Purpose of the Project

Research into Community
Needs
Planning & Development of the
Project
Implementation of the Project

Evaluation & Results

Appendix
1

PURPOSE OF PROJECT

Introduction

n the American society, it is difficult to believe that there are still some people who do not
understand how economics works, and how vital it is to have a solid grasp on personal
finance. That is why we, the Vail High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
chapter 13623 had taken it upon ourselves to indoctrinate children in grades kindergarten
through fifth with the essential skills needed to be successful in ones future.

What is CTE & JTED?

For students looking to receive an education in
the field that they were interested in, certain
programs have been developed in order to give
the students a method of gaining the experience
and expertise that is offered within the field. A
national program, Career Technical Education
(CTE), was developed in order to enhance a
students preparedness for the major that they
wish to go in. A growing program, it reaches out
to about 12.5 million high school and college
students within the nation. Similarly, Arizona
had released a program, Joint Technical
Education District (JTED), that was designed to
allow students to develop their skills in a
specific major or career professionallowing
them to decide whether they truly want to go in
to the service, and giving them training and
certification to be able to work in that field after
the completion of the classes. For example, if a
student were interested in Veterinary Sciences,
they would be able to sign up for a two-year
class in their location, and by the end of the
training, be able to work at a veterinarian clinic
without needing to obtain an undergraduate
degree in it. In August of 2015, the Arizona
Legislature called for a decrease in funding for
both CTE and JTED programs by 53 percent
thus reducing the size of the funding
tremendously.

Arizona Business Curriculum:

Kindergarten through Fifth Grade

As of now, Arizona holds little to no

standards of introducing business and
economics standards to children in
kindergarten through fifth grade. While it is
a requirement of a high school student to
take an economics class within the four
years of schooling, there are no standards
that are similar for the younger grade levels.
As a result, the younger generation has only
a vague understanding of how the American
Enterprise System works, and they lack the
knowledge of integrating personal finance
in to their every day lives.

Why Teach Financial Literacy at a Young Age?

According to Edutopia, there is no set standard for teaching financial literacy to elementary
students; there are, however, organizations such as JumpStart and Junior Achievement who have
written national standards for elementary and middle school students, and are willing to work
with teachers who are passionate about teaching their students skills for the future. As a
kindergarten through twelfth grade school, it was a vital necessity for the Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter 13623 to be able to give back to the community by teaching
the elementary-aged students the concepts of personal finance and economics. The Idea of
instituting a financial literacy program for young students was easily accepted and held as
important and practical in our unique school atmosphere, which was the ideal location to
establish such a program. In todays society, it is essential to have a solid basis for financial
literacy at a young age; it allows for the students to be able to make smart goals and choices, and
integrates a firm understanding of how money works. The main goals of our project were to
teach and inform elementary students about real world problems (such as scarcity), to allow
students to participate in a realist experience with Classroom Economy, and to help students
discover that all decisions have an opportunity cost.
Arizona is ranked fiftieth in education funding out of all states in the United States, which means
that most graduates lack the materials or supplies that they need in order to succeed. A big part
of the reason that we are ranked fiftieth is because the level of our knowledge in economics and
finances. Moreover, Arizona is ranked thirty-sixth in performance. The Vail chapter of FBLA
saw a big problem with that, and we took initiative. We did not care that we were ranked last in
all the states we were going to better prepare the future of America by teaching elementary style
lessons to the elementary students and empower them to take initiative in saving and investing in
their money and economy.

RESEARCH INTO THE COMMUNITY

Nature of Vail Academy & High School

he Classroom Economy project is

very practical and works perfectly
for Vail Academy and High
School because of our school. Many
schools look up to Vail Academy and
High School because of our one-of-akind business class; however, just like the
rest of Arizona, students are not being
taught essential life lessons, such as the
difference between needs and wants that
Vail Academy a nd High School
they should be taught in order to function
in a community. That is where we saw an opportunity to jump in, and develop a system to teach
the students at Vail Academy and High School these essential life lessons.

After every lesson, we gave the teachers surveys on how well the Business Management 2 students
did, and how effective the lesson was in teaching the standards. The input that the teachers
provided have been unanimous: The Business Management 2 students did outstanding in
indoctrinating the standards and concepts to the students, and that the lesson was knowledgeable
and without a doubt extremely helpful. Seeing how these lessons have had such a big impact on
the both the elementary and business two students it has not gone unnoticed. Because of all the
hard work that was put into the Classroom Economy this year, it has been decided by the business
teacher as well as the principal of Vail Academy and High School to incorporate it again into the
Business Management 2 curriculum for years to come.
The Classroom Economy project has caught the attention of nearby elementary schools in the Vail
School District as the result of its ongoing
success. Because of the impact that the
Classroom Economy has had on the school
community in one year, it has been considered to
expand the project to other schools within the
Vail School District. For the coming years, a
team of three Business Management 2 students
will lead the Classroom Economy, introducing
new standards, requirements, and activities in the
coming year. These students plan to extend the
project to other schools within the district
allowing for more children to learn to be
financially literate at a young age.
The fifth grade job chart.

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

OF THE PROJECT
Classroom Economy: How it Works

he Classroom Economy program is an instruction- and experience-based program that

was created by the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter 13623 in order to
implement a better understanding of financial literacy, and to integrate such lessons in to
the students curriculum at an early age. The Business Management 2 class, the second course
that people within the business program can take, creates lessons that are tailored specifically for
the grade level that they are assigned to, be it kindergarten or fifth grade. After weeks of
planning, developing, and practicing, the students will then teach their grade level the lesson that
they had created, and is then followed by an activity that was felt to be the best example of
teaching the younger generation of what they had just learned. At the end of each quarter, the
Boxer Shop, a student-run market where the elementary section can spend the money that they
had earned, is opened, and the students are free to buy whatever they want within the shop,
provided that they have enough money for it. As the value of the items increase, the price will
also increase; for example, a pencil can be worth five dollars, but a stuffed animal could be
worth over 60 dollars. The shop not only teaches the students the advantages of saving, but it
also instills in them the need to save their money for better items, and supplies them with an
opportunity-cost each quarter.

How to Make Money

Throughout the months, the students are able to make money by working; the teachers are able
to assign the students to a specific job, such as cleaning the desks at the end of the school day, and
at the end of the week, the students are paid in the money that correlates with their grade. In order
to vary the jobs that are offered, the teachers will change the students role in the class every week;
for example, a student can be a line leader for
the class, and earn 20 dollars for it, but the next
week, they could receive a job that only earned
them 10 dollars. The amount of money that a
student receives depends on the rigor of the
activity that they had completed. Although the
main form of gaining money would be to
complete the jobs that are assigned to them,
there are other ways to earn it as well; if a
teacher believes that a student had gone above
and beyond during that school day, they [the
student] can be rewarded with the money, and
a student teacher during a lesson can set the
money as a prize for their activity, allowing
only the winner of the game to earn it.

Banking
With the money that is earned, the students
must complete a rent sheet at the start of each
month. The sheet consists of the rent the
students must pay (60 dollars for their desk),
the amount of money they would like to put in
to their savings account in order to use it at a
later time, the amount they wish to donate to an
organization, and the amount they would like
to take out of their savings account. At the end
of each job, the students should have enough
money to pay for their rent; however, there are
times where the students go in to debt because
they do not have enough money, usually
because they spend a surplus of it at the Boxer Shop, or the money is taken away from them by
the teacher as punishment for something that they had done. By supplying these sections on the
sheet, the students will have a firm understanding at the end of the year how money works, the
benefits of donating and saving ones money, and the skills that they had received through a
year-long simulation of paying rent.

Fundraising
Vail High School FBLA had wanted to give back to the community in more ways than one: in
order to do so, we had decided to partner with the Marshall Home for Men, a living facility for
men who had fought in past wars. The Vail chapter of FBLA had partnered with the center, and
after months of volunteering to help upkeep the facility, the American Enterprise Team created a
system that would not only teach the
children how to donate, but it would
also make them more aware of their
Money Raised
money, and how they were spending
it each money. For every five dollars
that a student donates to charity, we
will donate one dollar to the Marshall
Home. In the first semester, the
students in kindergarten through fifth
grade had donated over 300 dollars to
the Marshall Homeindicating that
the students had donated at least
1,500 dollars in their form of
currency. The money that is donated
to the Marshall Home for Men is
used to assist them in buying new items, such as a laptop that has the capabilities and technology
to surpass the current desktop that the community shares, in order to provide for a better facility
to live in.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT

Classroom Economy: How it Works

he American Enterprise Team realized early on that the Classroom Economy only
provided the kindergarten through fifth grade students with personal finance experience,
and that they would not fully understand the values of budgeting and business practices
after a full year of the program. To counteract this, the team decided to present guided business
lessons in a variety of business topicssuch as opportunity cost, budgeting, value, and trade
each quarter in each class. In order to create and present this many lessons, the team decided to
take advantage of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) business courses taught to high
school students. For one week of each quarter, the students in the Business Management 2 class
(which consisted of juniors and seniors who had previously taken and passed the Business
Management 1 course) were split into groups and assigned a grade. They then created a 45minute lesson that connected an Arizona Educational Standard for that grade to a business topic.
For example, in the third quarter the first graders were taught a lesson on opportunity cost, which
tied into the first grade standard of identifying the differences between needs and wants. Thus,
the kindergarten through fifth grade teachers were able to justify and use the Classroom
Economy lessons as curriculum, which saved them time, and helped their students stay on track
for the year.

The Business Management 2 Class

The Business Management 2 class of Vail High
School consists of 30 students. Over the summer,
the American Enterprise team worked with the
principal, business teacher, and kindergarten
through fifth grade teachers to set out the format for
the lessons. The main issue that the team had faced
was justifying why the students of the Business
Management 2 class were spending so much time
on a project that was not a direct part of the course.
With the guidance of the mentors, a solution was
reached: make the American Enterprise Project a
part of the curriculum. Students would receive eight
grades that make up five percent of their final grade
over the course of the year. For each lesson, they are
graded on their lesson plan and the ideas within it,
and separately graded on their presentation to the
grade level that they were in charge of teaching.
Each lesson must include objectives, vocabulary, a
timeframe, and a hands-on activity that introduces
or reinforces what the student has learned. The
students grades are a part of the leadership and time
management curriculum for the Business
Management 2 course.

The Kindergarten through

Fifth Grade Teachers
The kindergarten through fifth grade
teachers have an important role in the lesson
plan portion of the Classroom Economy.
Although they allow the Business
Management 2 students to present their own
lessons, the teachers play a major part in
assessing and guiding them. After each
lesson, the teachers fill out a review form
that rates the students presentation. The
scores they give translate directly into a
portion of the students presentation grade.
The teachers also provide suggestions for
future lessons and ideas for Classroom
Economy as a whole.

Impact Statement

ver the course of the 2015-2016 school year, the Vail High School Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) Chapter 13623 had impacted many communities, both local
and state-wide. As a result, the American Enterprise team had felt it best to tell of how
we had impacted the communities surrounding us through a concise explanation of each.

Vail Academy & High School

Vail Community

Within Vail Academy and High School,

the Classroom Economy has become a
part of the school culture. All grades of
high school play small parts in the project
over the course of the year as they assist in
the Boxer Shop, work with the
kindergarten through fifth grade students,
and assist the American Enterprise Project
team. Furthermore, the students in the Vail
Chapter of the Future Business Leaders of
America (FBLA) have all played a role in
the growth of the project over the course
of this year. Students donate their time and
knowledge of business and personal
finance principles to teach the elementary
students the important aspects of the
American Enterprise System.

The Classroom Economy has garnered a

large amount of support from its
community. Parents and teachers have
spread information about the project to
other schools, and it is now a well-known
aspect of the education students receive by
coming to Vail Academy and High
School. The parents are ecstatic that their
students are exposed to important life
situations at a young age so that they will
be better prepared for the rest of their
lives. Now, more parents are more
inclined to recommend Vail Academy and
High School to their friends

Vail Business Community

The Vail business community has
realized that programs such as this
better prepare their future workforce.
For this reason, many businesses, such
as Frys and Jim Click Automotive, and
many small businesses in the area, have
donated to the project. They support the
program through fundraising that
allowed us to purchase the toys and
items in the Boxer Store, and in the
form of goods that we can place directly
into our store. Currently, the program
has over 4,000 dollars in funds to use
for the Boxer Store, an amount that will
keep the program running for at least
the next two years.

The Marshall Home for Men

Through the personal finance portion of the Classroom Economy, students are able to donate to
charity. Using a five to one ratio the students decided to donate over 1,500 dollars to charity. The
Vail Chapter of FBLA decided to
donate the funds that the students
gave to the Marshall Home for Men.
This program helps veterans move
from the military into a new career
by providing them housing and food
during periods without income.
This helps combat the homeless
population and unemployment in
Tucson as the men are able to
reestablish their careers. The money
donated went to replacing their
books which were all lost in a flood.
The kindergarten through fifth grade students were able to see first-hand the importance of giving
back to the community so that it can grow, a key aspect of the American Enterprise System.

Arizona Legislature
In August of 2015, Arizona
drafted a new budget to
counter the state deficit.
Vail Academy and High School
Vail K-5 Community
Within the new budget all
funding for Career and
Arizona Legislature
Vail Business Community
Technical Education (such
Marshall Home for Men
Total Impacted
as the business classes at
Vail Academy) would be
560
cut. In the same year
580
President Barack Obama
485
3,076
added a new section to the
US Presidential Scholar
1,394
awards that specifically
57
recognized students in CTE
programs. This year
Arizona nominated five students for this prestigious award, of which two were from the Vail
Chapter of FBLA. The nominees were able to meet with many key professionals in the Vail
community, such as business leader Jim Click and our district representative. They were amazed
impact that the Vail chapter of FBLA had on the school through the American Enterprise Project
and Business One and Two courses. As a result of this, the representative for our district created
and passed legislation that reversed the funding cuts to CTE in Arizona.

NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED

EVALUATION & RESULTS

Moving Forward

he Classroom Economy has yielded tremendous results in the way students see
themselves and the world around them. Not only have the children grown a better
understanding of how to manage and earn their money, but they have also taken initiative
in controlling the way their money is spent. As each student was given a job in the classroom in
order to let the room function efficiently that allowed them to earn money. In order to take
initiative of controlling their money each month they would get a deposit slip which incorporated
rent that they must pay every month, how much money they would like to put into savings,
and how much money they would like to donate towards charity. In order to gauge the
effectiveness of the Classroom Economy and student-taught lessons, the elementary school
teachers were asked to complete a survey after each lesson. Each grade level found the lessons to
have a positive effect on both the children, as well as their understanding on economy.

The teachers were also asked to comment on the topics of the lessons taught if they were
beneficial to their students. The teachers were unanimously in agreement that Arizona has no
economic standards for elementary schools, and the lessons were extremely beneficial. The
teachers also all agreed that more lessons should be implemented throughout the year to
further teach the students how to save and use their money. Ultimately, teachers and students
alike found that the lessons that were taught were effective in not only teaching the students,
but also demonstrating how finance truly works in the worldsomething that, prior to this,
was not taught in the different grade levels.
When this project was created, it was realized that the problem it set out to solvethe complete
lack of financial or business curriculum for Arizona elementary studentscould not be solved in
one year. To counter the lack of curriculum on a yearly basis, the Classroom Economy had to be
a self-sustaining program that would continue
after the first year. Over the course of this year,
the entirety of the Vail Future Business Leaders
of America (FBLA) Chapter learned about and
assisted in the development of the Classroom
Economy, and individuals were hand-selected
and trained in the specifics of the program so
that next year, the program as a whole will
become a continuous duty of the chapter. Within
the school, it will be a fixed program that
parents can expect their children to experience
all the way through the fifth grade. Furthermore,
the fundraising done this year has guaranteed the
program will continue without any more donations until the 2018 school year. As a result, this
program has the ability to reach an immense number of students, parents, and teachers.

10

Sustainability

anaging the Classroom Economy is no small job, which is why our chapter has
decided to choose a team of three or four individuals (preferably juniors and seniors)
to manage the program each year. As of next year the Classroom Economy will
become an official portion of the Business Management 2 course so that it will require less
supervision while simultaneously ensuring its sustainability. In this way the program most
effectively addresses the lack of real-world-ready Arizona curriculum in Vail Academy and High
School.

Overall, the Classroom

Economy met all of the goals
that it set out to achieve:
buying new books for the
men at the Marshall Home,
providing lessons that were
student made, activities that
would allow the children to
better
understand
and
broaden their perspectives on
the economy, and areas that
would allow them to practice
what they had learned all
year. Not only that, but
showing
the
State
Legislatures what Career
Technical Education (CTE)
really means, and the impact
The second grade job c hart.
that it can have on a
community through learning and teaching, all while better preparing the future of America with
the essential responsibilities to function in a community. It is very clear that the project benefits
everyone, whether it be teachers, the FBLA students, the men at the Marshall Home, or the children
and their families. The program helps children gain the real-life experience with money they will
need, and learn the basic economic principles that are important for all people to understand. Vail
Academy and High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Chapter 13623 is looking
forward to continuing with the project for many years to come.

11

Conclusion

hen the Vail High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter 13623
first decided to take on the Classroom Economy, we decided that the most important
aspects of it would be gaining financial literacy, indoctrinating children with the
information to be smart with their money, and providing the FBLA members countless
opportunities to teach the younger generation. Since Vail Academy and High School is a
kindergarten through twelfth grade school, the high school students in the Business Management
2 class were able to participate and teach the children about the American Enterprise System.

With the creation of the Classroom Economy, the Business Management 2 and 3 students will be
able to grow in the ways unforeseen prior to the start of the 2015 year: the students are able to
develop through the leadership and responsibility placed upon them, all while spreading education
about the American Enterprise System and personal finance to the elementary levels. Every year
after this, the impact of the project will double as a result of the thorough training and skills that
were gained. Because of how this project will now become an essential role in the kindergarten
through fifth grade curriculum, three students in the Business Management 3 class will be able act
as the project leaders, gaining more insight and knowledge on both the educational role, but also
the financial and economical world that surrounds them.
As Joshua Burke, the fourth grade teacher at Vail Academy and High School, had stated,
Classroom Economy had far exceeded my expectations; initially, I believed that the student
teachers would do nothing more than finding a PowerPoint online and teaching it to the class.
When I saw them present, and the amount of hard work that each student had put in to making the
lesson fun for the kids, I realized how truly amazing this program is. It fosters creativity on the
side of the high school students, and it teaches the kids the knowledge theyd need to have and use
in the future.

12




APPENDIX

The lesson plans for each grade are

under their respective binders. The
Business Management 2 students can
use these binders as they create the
lesson plans for the grade levels.

The bank that the third grade uses

to put their rent deposit slips in to
each month. Each class varies in how
they wish to do the exchange.

13

A sample lesson plan that the fourth
grade group had created for the third
quarter lesson.

The requirements that are meant to be

met when creating the lesson plan, as
well as the papers that must be
attached to the plan when it is
completed. The teachers will receive
the lesson plan, a printout of the
PowerPoint, and any papers that will
be used during the lesson.

14