Kids, adults educated on finances

Chris Jones

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

The basics of banking are anything but basic to many Americans.

A study last year by the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy indicated that less than 52 percent of high school seniors surveyed could correctly answer questions on the basics of personal finance.

Proponents of an initiative backed by Wells Fargo Bank hope to improve on that statistic through its "Banking on our Future" program.

Using a free, interactive tutorial available at www.BankingOnOurFuture.com, the program teaches basic financial concepts ranging from budgeting and checking to the more complex practices of planning for home ownership and investing for retirement. Lessons are divided into three user categories: adults and high school students, teens in grades six through nine, and fourth and fifth grade pupils.

Wells Fargo developed the program in conjunction with Operation HOPE, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic empowerment in inner-city areas, and SmartForce, a Redwood City, Calif.,-based e-learning operation.

The website launched nationwide in October and Wells Fargo officials conducted a Wednesday promotional stop -- complete with an Internet-ready demonstration bus -- at their Las Vegas community outreach center.

About 25 children from Crestwood Edison Elementary School received first-hand instruction on how to use the website. Through similar stops in cities across the United States, bank officials hope to directly instruct more than 100,000 school-age children by October 2002.

"The need is evident and this program has the potential to change the lives of thousands of youths and adults," said Doris Charles, Wells Fargo's East Las Vegas president of retail banking.

A handful of local educators were on hand to welcome the program to Southern Nevada. Christy Falba, who oversees K-12 literacy and elementary technology programs for the Clark County School District, said the youth-oriented lessons could have a significant impact in local schools because pupils often enjoy learning new skills via computer.

"Children today are a product of the media generation, so when we can harness technology that can make these concepts come alive, it's only working to our advantage," Falba said.

While he also supports corporate efforts to promote education, Aldo Aguirre, cultural diversity consultant for the Nevada Education Department, expressed some concern about the accessibility of the program's Internet-based initiatives.

"We must not forget poor and minority children and students have less access to computers," Aguirre said. "If you look at the schools and how some have access to computers, there's a disparity between Clark County and rural Nevada.

"We can have all the websites and software in the world, but if you don't have the computers, what good is it going to do?"

Bern Thompson, Wells Fargo vice president of mobile technology, said the bank intends to provide both CD-ROM and printed versions of the program to individuals or schools that lack Internet access.

The San Francisco-based bank -- the largest in Nevada -- also plans to offer free access to the online program at its Northern and Southern Nevada community outreach centers beginning in January.

In addition, a Spanish-language version is also scheduled to debut on the website in March or April, Thompson said.

"We are committed to getting this program out to everyone so that anyone who wants to learn about financial topics can do it," Thompson said.