Financial literacy and entrepreneurship are in full swing at the David N. Dinkins School for Community Service. The Pilot program begun in the Fall of 2023. The former superintendent of District 28, Dr. Pate, consented to the launch of the two-year pilot program which has been an overwhelming success. Current trends in our society, based on data, disclosed that students as young as four years old are learning about financial literacy and entrepreneurship at home and school. They learn about relational money concepts in day care centers and pre-school programs. In most homes, students become entrepreneurs when they earn money from cutting the grass, shoveling snow, taking out the garbage, and setting up lemonade/hot chocolate stands, etc.

Under the leadership of Principal Joan Stanley-Duvernay, Charles Fisher (Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, Inc.), teacher Rochelle Whichard, and Education Assistant Lynnelle Whichard, a pilot program was introduced to students who are in the school through the “Business and Finance Academy”. The students are in grades K through 5; approximately 160 students are in subgroups such as students with disabilities, English language learners, and low-income. The goal of the program is to teach students about financial literacy and entrepreneurship which will:

* Reduce poverty in their community
* Improve students’ reading and math test scores – If you can’t read or count you can’t build or run a business
* Prepare students for a bill that’s about to be passed making it mandatory to have financial literacy credits to graduate from high school. This program will give them an early advantage to ACE their financial literacy classes
* Increase the number of small businesses in their community
* Reduce youth and young adult Gun & Gang Violence, as well as incarceration

The Little Daymond Money Club was so successful during the 2023-2024 school year that Principal Joan Stanley-Duvernay, extended the program from one day, to two days a week. This equates to 57 hours of financial literacy and entrepreneurship being taught to students in grades K-5. It’s a fact that High School and college students are receiving little or no exposure to Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. The flip side to this is through the Little Daymond Money Club students applied grade level ELA and math standards to increase their understanding of financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

In September 2023, based on conversations with students, meetings with teachers, classroom visits, and monthly assemblies students had very little knowledge of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. By June 2024, student’s growth in vocabulary, pitching, and knowledge of financial literacy and entrepreneurship was evident during their stellar pitch to Mr. John during his annual Christmas party visit in 2023, which earned his endorsement and a small token investment in their companies.

This shows just how much the students have learned during the pilot program. The “Little Daymond Learns to Earn” bestselling book, and “The Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship” curriculum played a significant role towards the success of the “Pilot Program” and empowering scholars with the necessary tools for financial independence and success. On a final note, most of the students showed improvement on their state reading and math test scores through the 23-24 and 24-25 school years.