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The Money Camp
ByTeri Safranek
Rotary Club of  Escondido

Like many of you, when my work schedule is too hectic for me to attend a meeting or visit another Rotary club for a makeup, I appreciate the ability to attend Rotary meetings via the internet.  Each time I complete the makeup application form and I’m asked for ideas for future articles, I usually indicate my desire to read about business and or training.

As director of workforce and community development for a Community College in Southern California, I’m interested in training and what’s going on in the business world. Our programs provide training for our local community and we do our best to help with workforce and economic development.  We have the proverbial “underwater basket weaving” classes (which I am tempted to put in our class schedule just to see if anyone would actually sign-up!) and we have certificate programs that help prepare workers for high paying jobs.  We also work with our local employers to provide training for their employees in the workplace. 

These responsibilities enable me to work with a large variety of local businesses, government agencies, and individuals keeping in touch with training needs.  One of our programs is designed in part to help working parents by providing a summer camp for kids.  Our College for Kids program offers a wide variety of accelerated learning opportunities for children in 2^nd through 8^th grades.

Each summer our college is filled with hundreds of future college students eager to learn topics like: magic, cooking, space, sports, robotics, video gaming, and much more.  This past summer we offered a new subject that proved to be powerful and very popular.  For any of you that have the opportunity to send your children or grandchildren to one of these camps in your area, I highly recommend it.  The theme of this camp is money, that’s right, MONEY.  We spent a week teaching children in 5^th through 8^th grade how to become financially free! 

The concept was developed by Elisabeth Donati from Santa Barbara, California after she read Robert Kiyasaki’s, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book.  She realized that she didn’t have a basic understanding of how to manage money and that many people she knew were in the same boat.  She worked with Larry Stein a financial planner and together they designed The Money Camp. 

This is accelerated learning at its finest.  We invited a local financial reporter, George Chamberlin, to come and speak at our camp.  After speaking with our campers, Chamberlin wrote an article on his experience with us.  He stated that he doesn’t usually accept invitations to speak to young people as they are usually bored listening which isn’t a fun experience for him.  Chamberlin went on to say that he thoroughly enjoyed his time with our Money Camp students and was thrilled to have so many hands go up with questions about the stock market. 

Students are taught concepts of paying themselves first, investing in assets to create passive income, not spending more than they earn, if they can’t afford it in cash, they can’t afford it, and the importance of philanthropy.  As Rotarians, we should all be encouraged that this educational program is out there helping to create a new generation of citizens who will be financially free and who understand the importance of service above self!