Oct. 29, 2009 (Business Wire) -- In a quest to uncover new and engaging ways to make learning about money management compelling and meaningful to today’s youth, Charles Schwab Foundation has announced the first annual winners of the Money Matters Innovation Awards. Five winning Boys & Girls Clubs, all of which offer the Money Matters program, were selected from approximately 100 competing clubs across the country’s five geographic regions. The winners, which each will receive a $3,000 grant, are:

• Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora (New York),
• The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Charlotte (North Carolina),
• Boys & Girls Club of Evansville (Indiana),
• Boys & Girls Club of Collin County (McKinney, Texas), and
• Boys & Girls Club of King County (Seattle, Washington).

While each winning club employs different strategies and tactics to teach critical personal finance skills, a common theme for all involves reaching outside the framework of the basic Money Matters financial education curriculum to encourage hands-on, experiential learning. The different approaches include simulation of real-life financial decision-making, entrepreneurism and community involvement, local business participation in the program, and family outreach and involvement.

For example, the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora, New York, has created its own “bank” and provides each teen participant with $1 as “seed money” and a checkbook complete with check register and deposit slips. When the teens wish to purchase something from the Club’s snack bar, they are encouraged to write a check as payment—provided they have the funds in their account to cover it. As a group, the kids learn to reconcile bank statements created by the club, with their own personal check registers. The Collin County Club similarly has its own currency, called “smart bucks” that kids can earn in a variety of ways and spend in the Club’s “Buck Store.” They also have the ability to save their smart bucks (and earn interest on them).

At the Boys & Girls Club of King County in Seattle, a Micro Society program enables teens to create their own city-society within the club’s walls and serves as an umbrella for multiple club programs including Money Matters.

“This entrepreneurial playground gives our youth experience in running a business, participating in government and taking leadership roles in the community, and it motivates them to develop skills that prepare them for success in school, work and life,” said Chief Professional Officer Daniel Johnson. “Financial education is a big part of that.