Treasurer Tells Schoolchildren It Pays to Save

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Valuable lessons in fiscal responsibility.

Sounds like a good deal?

The pitchman at Oxnard’s Curren Elementary School on Friday wasn’t a bank teller with a commission on his mind.

He was state Treasurer Matt Fong, who came promoting his Save-at-School program, which is operating in 145 schools across California and is designed to teach kids forgotten lessons of pennies saved and pennies earned.

Our credit card nation, Fong said, is small on delayed gratification and big on personal bankruptcies.

His goal, he said, is to teach schoolchildren how to better manage their money.

“In effect, our culture changed from ‘Save now, buy later’ to ‘Buy now, pay later,’ ” said Fong, a Republican bidding to unseat U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Curren, part of the Oxnard Elementary School District, and Tierra Vista School, part of the Ocean View School District, are the first in Ventura County to join Fong’s Save-at-School program.

Sponsored locally by the Oxnard-based Channel Islands Bank, the program is open to fourth-graders.

They will take part in monthly “banking days” in which bank officials come to school to handle transactions and stamp passbooks.

The program also includes 12 classroom lessons that will teach schoolchildren about the origins of money, budgets and taxes.

“This program will get them started on an appreciation for savings and some of the things they’re going to be facing downstream,” said Richard D. Spencer, president and chief executive officer of Channel Islands Bank.

Spencer said he hoped the program could be expanded to other grades in the future.

“I think we’re looking at a tremendous asset here,” he said of the 250 students gathered in Curren’s multipurpose room to greet Fong. “And we’d be foolish not to invest some time and effort into letting that asset grow to what we all want in our communities.”

Rachel Olson, 9, was thinking college fund.

Andrew Peni, 10, wanted to save for new toys.

Skyler Goldstein, 9, plans on buying some cars and a house while piling enough cash in his account to “maybe be rich.”

Marlon Bills envisioned himself the responsible husband and father.

“I’m saving for my lifetime,” the 9-year-old Tierra Vista fourth-grader said. “You know, what I’ll need for my kids and stuff.”

Marlon’s dad, Gerald, who was at the assembly to see his son launch his financial fortune, remembered his mother helping him open his first savings account to teach the same lessons.

“It’s just a great opportunity for kids to learn something like that, especially at this age,” Gerald Bills said.