Activism Log 1

Sarah Jackson

Nina Perez

February 11, 2010

WST 3015

Word Count: 290

Our group met with our community partner contact, Mariana Ordaz, to work out dates to volunteer and to learn more about the Girl Scouts program. Mariana explained to us the special Girl Scout Outreach group that we will specifically be working with. This group is made up of six to eight year olds. These girls are mostly from low-income families who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in the Girl Scouts program. They meet after school so the program also functions as a type of child care for families where both parents work outside of the home and are unable to be home when their children come home from school. The Girl Scouts mission statement is “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” I am very excited to be able to work with this group of girls on this program.

"The Penny Project" seems like a very important message to get across to these young girls. It will help to teach them finical responsibilities, investing skills, money saving and spending skills. All of these things are typically not taught to young girls. I wish, though, that someone would have extensively taught me the benefits of saving, investing, and smart spending when I was much younger. It is a difficult lesson to learn on your own from mistakes made. It would have been much more beneficial to me if I would have learned these lessons at a young age. "The Penny Project" seems like a fun and interesting way to learn about finances. I am sure that myself and the other women in my group will actually learn from the a lot from this program meant for the young girls.

It has been found that "on average, U.S. women's wages for full-time year-round work have never risen above 77 percent of what men earn on average...And the situation is worse for women of color..." (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 5). This being the case, financial literacy seems like a very important topic to discuss with young girls. Instilling in them the knowledge to spend wisely will help them to control their finances through out life.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.