My students know that I have followed Warren Buffet since I was little and that I am fascinated by his life story. I even own stock in his company Berkshire Hathaway! But a few years back, when Buffet and Mr. and Mrs. Gates announced the Giving Pledge, my admiration and appreciation for Buffet and Gates took another step up. Their plan? Their goal? To get the billionaires in the world to pledge half of their worth to charity. To show the Billionaires how easy this could be, Bill and Melinda Gates pledged 95% of their new worth and Buffet pledged 99%. Sure, these are rich people and even keeping just 1-5% of their money would still keep them in the multi-millionaire range, possibly still near a Billionaire, but that is still amazing to part with so much money. A recent episode of "60 minutes" highlighted their ongoing project. Take a look at this 12-minute video over the Holiday weekend and remember that there are some rich people out there trying to do the right thing as well.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Great Interactive Slideshow Showing Poverty Levels in the U.S.

   Please take a moment to click on this link and click through the 6 slides this website has about Poverty in our country. Many of the slides are interactive where you can learn more by hovering over certain parts. Really makes you think about the poverty in our country and how large of an issue it truly is. The part that really got to me was seeing how children in poverty really make up the biggest population of Americans currently below the poverty level. People are below the poverty level for a variety of reasons, but one reason that jumps out in these slides is education. The less education a person has, the more likely they are to be below the poverty line. Whatever the reason, we need people to help lift people out of poverty, especially the children. At Carlisle, our counselors are always looking for resources for families in need. So, if you are a family in need or find yourself at some point during this year in crisis and in need of something, please contact us. Call, email, come in to see us, whatever, just let us know what you need and we can see if we can track down the resources to help. Also pay attention to updates throughout the year for clothing drives, shoes and boots that fit programs, Operation Backpack, supply drives, and many other programs we help to offer. And again, please take a look at the website below to see the most current data. Thank you!

Poverty Data click here!

FREE Groceries, health checks, resources, and fun SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12th!!!

Not going to put a big long post out about this, but I just learned of a great free resource happening tomorrow in downtown Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena. Please pass the word and get the message out. Click "here" to go to the page describing this, but long story short, an event called "Convoy of Hope Des Moines" is happening from 10 a.m. until supplies run out at the Wells Fargo Arena TOMORROW (Saturday!). Everything from free groceries to free haircuts to free vision and health screenings. This is an amazing opportunity for families in area who are in need. So please use this event if you can or need to. If not, please contact someone who can benefit. No IDs are needed, just attend if you need this help. We all need help from time to time....we need to learn to use that help and be thankful for that help when it is offered. This is a great chance to use it. Email or contact a Carlisle counselor if you want more information (although we are just learning about this ourselves)

Convoy of Hope website click here!

Winter Clothing Giveaway!! Now October 24th!!!

If you are a middle school parent or guardian and wondering if you have enough warm clothes for your middle schooler this winter and wondering how you would even pay for it if you don't have those clothes, we want to help. We have been collecting and gathering warm clothes (hats, gloves, coats, sweatshirts, pants, etc) for a couple years and we still don't have much, but we feel we have enough to give to others. And we want to do just that. A tentative date has been set (October 24th) and on that date from 4 to 6 p.m., we will have the clothes set out in the Life Skills room for the taking. We ask that those who come to see what we have to offer are families who are in need and simply can't balance all of the bills a cold winter might bring. We can't guarantee you much, but we are hopeful that those who come can find a few items to take home and that getting those items for free might ease the family budget this year. Please contact Kim Flagor Fuller or Ben Barry for more details. And check back soon to see if our date is more firmly set!

When: October 24th, 4-6 p.m.

Where: Middle School Life Skills Room

Why: To help any family who might need extra warm clothes this winter season.

FREE Dinner and FREE show at Carlisle Middle School on November 1st. (Did you see it said "FREE"!!)

A great FREE opportunity is coming up. The National Theatre for Children is coming to Carlisle Middle School on November 1st for 2 shows. First, they will perform for our entire 7th grade in the afternoon. Next, they will stick around to put on a show for the entire community after a FREE dinner that night. So, what is their show about? Well, their show is titled "Mad About Money II" and teaches financially literacy to young people. But guess what? Adults can learn from this presentation too and that is why we are hoping the entire family comes to the night dinner and show on November 1st. Lots of information about this event will be posted around the community and sent home with students, so keep an eye out for more information. For now, please see the following information and make sure to RSVP soon!

Who: National Theatre for Children performance for Parents, families, and students

What: A free, fun, family-friendly theatre performance. Dinner provided for everyone thanks to the Iowa Insurance Division

Where: Carlise Middle School

When: Tuesday November 1st at 6:00 p.m.

Why: To teach the importance of financial literacy through a fun experience.

Please RSVP to ben.barry@carlisle.k12.ia.us . Please note how many in your family will be enjoying the free dinner and show. Also, if you are need of child care during the show (show will last 45 minutes MAX), please note that in your RSVP as well. Childcare activities will be provided free of charge as well.

You can also visit the National Theatre for Children website to learn more. Click here!!

Saving Money and Investing Money....In Plain English

I love these "Common Craft" videos as they take some complex topics many times and make them very simple. Great for kids and great for adults. And most are found on Youtube. Since we have been talking about money, saving, checking accounts, and even investing with our JA Biztown curriculum, I wanted to share these 2 videos. The first one is embedded right here in my blog and you can just hit play. The 2nd one, I linked to it so you can watch it there and watch other Common Craft videos as well. I highly recommend many of their "how to use different technology" videos. Very short, but very informative.

Saving Money by Common Craft

edit: I added a 3rd video called Borrowing Money in Plain English by Common Craft. It is embedded below. Enjoy!

8th Graders to Research Charities Soon!

Another heads-up to students and parents. Check back in a week or two to see what charities our 8th graders researched using CharityNavigator.org or the BetterBusinessBureau charity review site. Whether it be for tax reasons, the Holiday season, or just out of the goodness of your heart, the last 2 months of the year are the biggest charitable months of the year. But, just giving your money to a charity is not enough....we need to know if the charity is a good charity and will do good things with our money. So, our 8th graders will choose a charity and research it using one of the sites listed above. As soon as their computer lab research is done, I will post some of the best charities and some of the worst. Stay tuned....

JA Biztown Curriculum in Full Swing for 6th Graders

Our 6th graders are now finishing their first unit of study in our JA Biztown curriculum. This means that students have learned about what it means to be a community (town, country, school, church, etc.), why we pay taxes and where that money goes, why we vote and what other rights and responsibilities a citizen may have, and also what it means to be a philanthropist. We even discussed how markets work and what supply and demand is all about. In fact, some students, if they were listening well, might even be able to explain how our economy basically collapsed over the past 3-5 years and why the stimulus package was designed and what it was supposed to do (and did to some extent).

Now, as we head into break and come back from break, students will be studying all about how banks, investing, spending, and saving work. This means that students will finally get their own practice checkbook and begin writing checks and balancing their checkbooks. What I hope you can do to help me is to include your child in virtually every spending and saving occurrence that happens over the next month, especially since it is the holidays! Show them how you write a check, talk to them about why you use your debit or credit card and what happens to the money when you use it, talk to them about why you may not write that many checks, and talk to them about the options you have to save your money: 401K, savings acct., checking acct., under the mattress :), stocks, bonds, etc. I can give them the basics in class, but seeing it in action with you can be a huge support. Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts on all of this. And Happy Holidays!

Rising Cost of College

College should be an option for everyone and anyone! I tell that to my students all the time. Money should not be an obstacle as there are always scholarships, grants, and loans. But, I also realize that college is getting more and more expensive every year. This link is not meant to freak you out, but to prepare you for the future costs of college for your children. Take a look at some of the startling numbers.....

Click here to see the costs of college (thank you to Mint.com for the info and Hack Education for the blogpost alerting me about this infographic)