By Jeremy Walsh
“Time is money,” he told them. “You figure out your competitive advantage and you make a career out of it. Math was an advantage for me.”Then as his session wrapped up, he told them he would organize a day they could visit him in Manhattan.”We have a lot of flat-screens all over the trading floor, so we get to watch TV,” he said.”Yeeeaaahhh,” the students cooed. What else would you expect from fifth-graders?Not financial literacy, perhaps. But that is exactly what McGovern taught them during a five-week program at PS 143 in Corona through PENCIL, a nonprofit organization that fosters partnerships between the business world and local schools.”We have partnerships in just about 500 public schools throughout the city,” said PENCIL President Michael Haberman. “Business leaders from across all industries, all different sized companies, all working with schools on a customized basis to develop meaningful programs that are going to impact student achievement.”For McGovern, who was introduced to PS 143 through PENCIL's “Principal for a Day” program last fall, “meaningful programs” meant teaching kids to understand investing.”The material I'm pulling out is right on the cusp of their understanding,” McGovern said. “We didn't teach them algorithm trading or anything.”The lessons are from Merrill Lynch's educational library and tailored for this specific age group, he said. They include a primer on interest rates, saving money and pursuing career choices.The 13 students, all chosen for their strong math skills, were enthusiastic about the course.”It taught me a lot about saving,” said Jordon Balcacer, 11, of Jamaica. “Now I know to save it in a bank when my parents give me money.”For 10-year-old Bronx resident Christopher Sanchez, the class was a chance to hone financial knowledge he gets from another class – and weekly after-school visits to the stock exchange.”This helps me retain skills in stock market,” he said. “It's very exciting because I keep on learning. I really like math.”Assistant Principal Vikki Catolano said the students are retaining the basic skills, and, more importantly, they have caught a glimpse of an otherwise foreign professional world.”When you talk to our kids, they really don't know anyone in business,” she said. “Just to begin them thinking about their future and their careers is a good thing.”McGovern said the career discussion raised the most challenging questions from his students.”After I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, they asked me to give them the answer they just gave me when I was their age,” he said. “I said, 'Sometimes you have a dream about what you're going to do in life, but something comes along and you have to make a second choice.' When I was 11, I was thinking I would go into sports. But something changes your path.”These fifth-graders are starting to temper their athletic dreams with realistic back-up plans. Christopher said he wants to be a baseball player when he grows up, but tracks stocks on the Internet. Jordon said he sees “either math or sports” in his future, and has begun saving his money to pay for college.McGovern said these plans will give his students a leg up, noting he knew next to nothing about finance at age 11.”I was in a small Catholic school in New Jersey,” he said. “I'm not sure if I was even cutting lawns yet.”PENCIL is looking for more business volunteers. For more information, visit the organization's Web site at www.pencil.org.Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
