The entrepreneurial spirit is reaching Quebec City! The first Canadian Money Fair of the 2018-2019 school year took place at Dollard-des-Ormeaux School in Shannon on Dec. 8. Nicholas Keats, who teaches Contemporary World and Finance at the school, encouraged his Secondary 5 students to undertake this adventure.

A Money Fair is part of the Talk With Our Kids About Money program of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education. Pairs or small groups of students at any grade level select a monetary topic of interest to them, undertake research to explore and learn about that topic, and prepare a presentation showing the outcome of their research and what they learned.

Alexandra Verreault gave a presentation about the cost of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

To give you a better idea, here are some observations from two students who took part: Laurie Legault picked the topic “opening a business” because she believes that this is very common and can be part of anyone’s life. She learned that there are many ways for a company to fail. It is a very sensitive and competitive game. Anything, such as having a name similar to that of another company or not obtaining a business permit, can cause a company to fail before it even begins. At the same time, there are many ways a business can succeed, for example by offering clients something new.

Alexandra Verreault chose the Olympic Games. She feels that people don’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes to make big events like the Olympics happen. She learned that the Olympics are extremely expensive and that they aren’t very profitable. Instead of playing games and having fun, countries make it a competition to have the most entertaining games. For Alex, it was important to illustrate how much money Russia spent on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. “When you think about it, Russia went overboard with the idea of making it the most entertaining games ever,” said Alex. “They wasted a lot of money. But after all, the Olympics are important all over the world so it’s understandable how countries who have the honour to host it want to make it memorable.”

A Money Fair is a great way for any class to learn more about the world of finance. Doing research on a topic of their choice encourages the students’ curiosity and awareness. A Money Fair is an excellent opportunity for kids to find out more about various financial topics and for teachers and parents to talk with kids about money in school and at home!

Teachers looking for lesson plan ideas can visit the Talk With Our Kids About Money website (talkwithourkidsaboutmoney.com) and find ways to integrate money lessons into all subject areas.

Dollard-des-Ormeaux Secondary 5 students participated in a Money Fair Dec. 8, 2018. (Photo by Nicholas Keats)

Susanne Bergmann is project co-ordinator of the Talk with Our Kids about Money program for the Quebec region.

BY SUSANNE BERGMANN (SUBMITTED)
PUBLISHED:JANUARY 9, 2019
CHRONICLE-TELEGRAPH QUEBEC