SECU members have once again shown their strong support of youth financial education through a third SECU Foundation grant – this one totaling $250,000 to help fund the production of a fifth season of Biz Kid$ programming. Biz Kid$ is a credit union-backed, award winning public television series for middle school students, using 30 minute episodes to teach youth the concepts of saving, budgeting and entrepreneurship.
The SECU Foundation began its initial support for the series in 2009, and SECU started training personnel on this curriculum to incorporate Biz Kid$ into its financial education offerings for North Carolina middle schools. Since 2009, SECU has provided 245 presentations reaching 6,078 North Carolina youth. SECU also works with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction to train teachers on the program. Biz Kid$ television episodes and corresponding learning activities are shared with middle school students primarily in Social Studies and Career & Technical Education classes.
Jim Barber, SECU Foundation Chair comments, “As an organization that focuses heavily on financial education, SECU has seen great success in delivering financial concepts to North Carolina middle school students with Biz Kid$ and its accompanying curriculum. This success made it an easy decision to continue Foundation support of Biz Kid$ production. We look forward to another great season of this educational programming.”