News Release
Monday, April 30, 2007
Contact
Scott Kinney, Director of Communications, DFI
PH 360.902.0517 skinney@dfi.wa.gov
Washington Students Become "Mad About Money" With Financial Literacy Theatre Program
DFI Sponsors Statewide Tour to Help Kids Understand Personal Finance
OLYMPIA – The words “budgeting,” “investing” and “credit” will be the new buzz words throughout Washington this spring as Mad About Money, a live, in-school theater show, comes to area schools. Sponsored by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), performers with the National Theatre for Children, Inc. (NTC) will teach middle-school students about the principles of saving and spending with its unique mixture of personal finance and humor. The tour begins today and continues through June. By the tour’s end, the troupe will introduce over 12,000 teachers and students to money management.
“It is critical that smart spending habits start early. In a survey administered by the Jump$tart Coalition, 65 percent of high-school seniors, on average, failed a test that determined their knowledge of personal-finance basics,” said Scott Kinney, DFI Director of Communications and president of the Washington Jump$tart Coalition. “Mad About Money unites improv comedy with proven education techniques to help students understand the basics of personal finance – an education that will serve them well throughout their lives.”
“Financial literacy is unacceptably low in this country,” adds Lewis Mandell, Ph.D., professor of finance and managerial economics at the State University of New York-Buffalo. “Having evaluated the impact of NTC’s financial-literacy programs on students’ attitudes toward managing their finances, we know that shows like Mad About Money are an effective way to improve their knowledge about saving and budgeting.”
Mad About Money will tour 48 middle schools covering Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, Yakima, and Spokane. The show features professional actors who play a wide variety of colorful characters in four sketches. While watching a dad teach his son the difference between “needs” and “wants,” or an unsuspecting car buyer learn about credit from a smooth-talking salesman, students learn to prioritize how their money is spent, the importance of developing a savings habit and ways to invest for the future.
Beyond the in-school performances, Mad About Money program components include educational workbooks in Spanish and English, take-home activities, Internet exercises, handy guidebooks, curricular aids for teachers, and a rigorous testing method for measuring program results.
Mad About Money Spring Tour Schedule
| Date | City | School |
| 4/30/2007 | Ridgefield | View Ridge Middle School |
| 5/01/2007 | Seattle | Billings Middle School |
| 5/02/2007 | Woodland | Woodland Middle School |
| 5/03/2007 | Tacoma | Stewart Middle School |
| 5/03/2007 | Tacoma | Hunt Middle School |
| 5/04/2007 | Mossyrock | Mossyrock Junior High School |
| 5/07/2007 | Washougal | Canyon Creek Middle School |
| 5/08/2007 | Tacoma | Truman Middle School |
| 5/08/2007 | Olympia | Capitol Rotunda |
| 5/09/2007 | Tacoma | Mason Middle School |
| 5/09/2007 | Chehalis | Chehalis Middle School |
| 5/10/2007 | Camas | Skyridge Middle School |
| 5/11/2007 | Everson | Nooksack Valley Middle School |
| 5/14/2007 | Ferndale | Vista Middle School |
| 5/15/2007 | Port Orchard | Cedar Heights Jr High School |
| 5/15/2007 | Vashon | Harbor School |
| 5/16/2007 | Shelton | Olympic Middle School |
| 5/16/2007 | Lakewood | Lochburn Middle School |
| 5/17/2007 | Chimacum | Chimacum Middle School |
| 5/18/2007 | Bellingham | Fairhaven Middle School |
| 5/21/2007 | Fall City | Chief Kanim Middle School |
| 5/21/2007 | Sammamish | Renaissance School |
| 5/22/2007 | Arlington | Haller Middle School |
| 5/22/2007 | Sultan | Sultan Middle School |
| 5/23/2007 | Monroe | Monroe Middle School |
| 5/23/2007 | Snohomish | Hidden River Middle School |
| 5/24/2007 | Vancouver | Pleasant Valley Middle School |
| 5/25/2007 | Woodland | Woodland Middle School |
| 5/29/2007 | Yakima | Washington Middle School |
| 5/29/2007 | Spokane | Centennial Middle School |
| 5/31/2007 | Deer Park | Deer Park Middle School |
| 6/1/2007 | Rockford | Freeman Middle School |
DFI is still accepting requests from schools interested in hosting the 45-minute financial education performance. Teachers and administrators interested in being included in the 2007 tour can contact the National Theatre for Children or Scott Kinney for more information.
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About Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
www.dfi.wa.gov • (360) 902-8700 • (877) 746-4334
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions regulates a variety of financial service providers such as banks, credit unions, mortgage brokers, consumer loan companies, payday lenders, and securities brokers and dealers. The department has received numerous awards for its outreach programs designed to promote financial literacy and protect consumers from financial fraud.
About The National Theatre for Children
www.nationaltheatre.com • 1-800-858-3999
Founded in 1978, The National Theatre for Children, Inc. (known at that time as Small Change Original Theatre, Inc.) is dedicated to educating young people on important and timely curricular subjects by offering educational live theater in our nation's schools. Based in Minneapolis, NTC has developed the art of teaching through live theater into an evidence-based science of its own. NTC has pioneered extremely successful programs in health, science, social studies, reading and math. Each year, dozens of troupes perform live educational theater programs in front of millions of students, in thousands of schools, nationwide.
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