Students learn about finances with new game
Creator developed
the game to teach his own son about money and budget
Staten Island Advance - February 7, 2005
Learning finance is truly fun and games at the
Francis School, a private nonsectarian high school in Great Kills.
Playing the new board game, "All Around Spending," is part of the
curriculum in the students' Money Management class.
The game's wheel-shaped board contains 16 spaces marked with such
life necessities as salary, school, taxes, supermarket shopping,
transportation, barber/hair care, and even entertainment costs for
movies, ball games, computer games -- and board games.
"It's a fun, motivational way of learning wise budgeting and the
value of money," said Josephine Lopez, who teaches the money
management class at the Francis School.
Each player starts out with $600 in play money -- a loan that must
be paid back, with interest, when anyone lands on Bank. Students
have to decide how to spend their money, taking into account their
earnings and expenses incurred while moving around the board.
"Basically, it teaches the understanding of budgeting, and the
pitfalls of credit," said Ms. Lopez, who is also an adjunct
professor in continuing education at the College of Staten Island,
and who has been teaching business and computer classes for more
than 25 years.
"The game also shows the interconnection between education and
better jobs," added Trevor J. Ollivierre, who came up with the idea
for "All Around Spending" three years ago, inspired by his son,
Trevor Jr. (T.J.), then 8 years old.
"T.J. was always asking how much things cost, and how much people
earned as barbers, grocers, doctors, lawyers, and sales people,"
Ollivierre said during a recent visit to the Advance. "We did
research, going to all these businesses, and asking them how much
they make."
For instance, landing on the Doctor's space costs $100, while
stopping at Law Office costs the player $200. Barbershop/Hair care
visits cost an estimated $24 a week, while cleaner and laundry
expenses amount to about $30.
Each player has two "just looking" cards, which they can budget to
avoid the fee for landing on a business or professional space. "It's
best not to use these cards right away. Wait until you get low on
the cash flow," Ollivierre advised.
Thomas Cahill, a senior, who was in charge of helping his classmates
understand the rules, explained: "All Around Spending is a
real-life-imitating game . . . . Money is what makes the world go
round, and, today, almost everyone has a need for credit," Cahill
said.
"For a young player, this game will teach the principles of money,
the use and pitfalls of credit, and the high price of paying it back
to the lender, or the bank," Cahill said.
"When you land on the bank, the loan of $600 you took at the
beginning of the game has to be paid off with 5 percent interest,
meaning the player has to pay back $630," he said. "If the player
cannot pay the loan, or chooses not to, the next time the player
lands on Bank, the interest will be 10 percent, or $660. If you
cannot repay the loan when you land on Bank, you're out of the
game."
The All Around Spending game board is handmade by Ollivierre, on his
time off from his job as a cleaner in the Metropolitan Transit
Authority's Manhattan subway system.
He has lots of help from his son, T.J., now 11, and daughter, Monae,
13, including their help using their computer to print the game's
text. A color copy shop is used to print the paper money, and
cardboard tax, salary and lottery cards.
The clay figures that players move around the board are hand-formed,
fired and hand-painted by the Ollivierres.
"We are committed to using the money we make in selling the games,
to funding donations of free or discount games to schools, hospitals
day care centers, shelters, churches, libraries, where children and
their families can play an education game with an underlying moral,"
said Ollivierre. He donated the game to the Francis School, after
Ms. Lopez wrote that she was interested in using the game in her
Money Management class.
Ms. Lopez had seen one of the many reports about the game, and "It
looked interesting," she said.
Among schools purchasing the $40 game at a discount, was Community
School 287, Brooklyn.
"Not only is this a wonderful way to 'bond' with a child, but you
are also making the real life connection that is necessary at an
early age for children to understand the complex problems of
finance," wrote John R. Khani, principal.
Ollivierre believes All Around Spending is more educational than,
say, Monopoly. "We played Monopoly, but ended up fighting over
mortgages and fines. I thought, instead of paying a fine to other
players, why not pay a bill to a business, or a doctor or lawyer,
the way it is in real life" Ollivierre said.
While the game differs from Monopoly in its philosophy, All Around
Spending shares the fact that Ollivierre's game was turned down by
Parker Brothers, which initially had also turned down Charles
Darrow's Monopoly. Only after Darrow, an unemployed salesman during
the Great Depression in the 1930s, sold his game to such retail
giants as F.A.O. Schwarz, did Parker Brothers buy the rights in
1935.
At the Francis School, Jay Lovari, a senior who is currently
applying to colleges, where he plans to study psychology, was the
winner with $850 at the first table.
Mike Valenzo won the game at table 2, after raking in $2,750, mostly
from buying winning lottery tickets.
Was buying lottery tickets a good way to learn lessons in finance?
For Valenzo, a senior who plans to attend Berkeley College in the
fall, it was the perfect lesson.
"To have good luck, sometimes you have to take a chance in life,"
Valenzo concluded.
By Carolyn Rushefsky
Reprinted here with permission from the
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