Incorporating America Saves into the classroom curriculum is a great way to motivate students to Pledge to Save and open or add to Wealth Building Accounts. Through the Service Learning model from California State University, Northridge (CSUN), students were able to go beyond the classroom to develop and implement a campus-wide America Saves Campaign to promote automatic saving.
Key components of a Service Learning Model include:
- Identify a general education course that includes individual and family financial management.
- Identify student group from selected course to serve as ambassadors of your America Saves Week campaign.
- Students and volunteers will be responsible for facilitating and coordinating various activities during America Saves Week. (See below.)
- Evaluating the effectiveness of your Service Learning project both in student learning and service outcomes.
CSUN focused on a pilot group of students from an upper-level general education course open to all students on campus.
Activities to consider for America Saves Week include:
- Target locations on campus on market America Saves Week by hosting a table or booth with information and materials
- Facilitate savings-focused financial workshops to targeted campus population(s); i.e., student housing, Greek life, etc.
- Identify opportunities to be a part of any on-campus resource fairs during the week
- Offer in-classroom presentations about automatic saving and America Saves Week
- Share financial concepts and America Saves Week messages through campus social media, webinars, e-newsletters and public service announcements
For more information on implementing an America Saves Service Learning model on your campus, click here.
According to CSUN, service learning is defined as:
Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Faculty choose a limited number of meaningful partnerships with the goal of providing students with different, but consistent off-campus learning experiences. Through service learning, students—from kindergartners to college students—use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. They not only learn the practical applications of their studies, they become actively contributing citizens and community members through the service they perform (CSUN, 2014).
Read the full document: Developing an America Saves Campaign Through Service Learning