I remember saving for a Schwinn bicycle with silver chrome fenders. When I was a kid, my parents opened up my very own savings account into which I would deposit money I made from odd jobs. Small deposits began to add up. Eventually I put in an order from the Sears catalog. Oh happy day when my brand-new bike arrived! Proudly, I rode around my neighborhood on that shimmering Schwinn.

Very few children instinctively know how to manage their money well and people often do not recognize the value of teaching them credit worthiness and delayed gratification. Not every child gets the opportunity to practice saving and budgeting. Sadly, too many youth in Oakland are becoming adults without learning basic financial management skills.

Enter PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Three years ago, PwC contacted Children Rising about offering their Earn Your Future (EYF) financial literacy program to Oakland elementary students. We arranged for them to meet with staff at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in West Oakland. The school warmly welcomed the EYF team who soon launched an interactive financial literacy curriculum for 3rd- to 5th-graders. Since then, PwC has offered the program at Prescott Elementary and Hoover Elementary, both also located in West Oakland.

When I looked in on the kick-off EYF session at Hoover in April, I was amazed when the instructors raised the subject of identity theft because I expected to see students’ eyes glaze over. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the students’ insights and discussion. Hats off to PwC for investing in our Oakland youth!