By Staci Bostic-Baros,
Staff reporter
CHSS’ Early Childhood Development Program has acquired a grant from the Aspen Foundation to create a course with a new twist that families can attend together.
Family FIN1010 will provide families with dinner and tutoring for children while the students attend Financial Literacy courses, said Kalynn Pirkl Associate Dean in the School of Business and Information Technology.
Classes are offered with a hybrid section on Tuesdays, and a Spanish section on Thursdays, she said.
Although the financial literacy course Fin1010 is not new, it is usually a course that is offered to high school students doing dual credits, usually taken online with a high school facilitator, she said.
Fin1010 is open to everybody, not only current CNM students, the only requirement is having school aged kids who can attend and benefit from the tutoring services provided during this class, she said.
“I think financial literacy is a skill that everyone needs to know, I always tease that it is one of the biggest life lesson skills that you will have, I mean it’s the way we have to live our lives right?!” said Kalynn Pirkl.
Using the Aspen grant money, both parents and children will have dinner provided before each of their 12 classes, Pirkl shared.
Atrios catering, owned by a CNM employee and started by a CNM student has been chosen to cater dinner for the families, and will be bringing kid-friendly food to make sure that the kids eat, she said.
“The Montoya campus tutoring center had a wonderful idea to partner with an assisted living center named La Vida Llena Life Plan Community, and some of their residents have learned to do tutoring and excitedly volunteered to support this program,” Pirkl shared.
While the parents are in class, the children will get tutoring services from our tutoring department at Montoya campus, she said.
On those nights, it will be multi-generational, with not only CNM tutors but these volunteers from the Assisted Living Center that’s right next to Montoya campus who are so excited about tutoring and about all the interaction, she said.
“I know within CNM’s executive team, one of the missions is to involve children and child care into education with a multi-generational approach, I believe that is part of what has driven the creation of this program,” Kalynn Pirkl said.
It may be offered again this summer depending on what grant money is left over, she said.
This course is only being offered this Spring although depending on the success of this initial class and the funding available, there is potential Family FIN1010 will be ongoing, she said.
The only other issue that could impact offering this course is the fact that kids do not have homework over the summer and we would need to create a designed curriculum, she said.
