Craig Dottin and Kelly Boyd Honored with Financial Education Community Champion Award

Craig Dottin, Principal and Kelly Boyd, Assistant Principal at Vernon Hill Elementary School have been awarded the Financial Education Community Champion Award to recognize their outstanding leadership in bringing a standalone financial literacy program led by Ellis Cropper to the school’s third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students.

The Financial Education Community Champion Award recognizes outstanding individuals or organizations dedicated to promoting financial literacy and empowerment within their communities. This award celebrates the high-impact efforts of those individuals who go above and beyond to educate and inspire others to achieve financial wellness.

Financial Education Program Details

The standalone financial education program led by Ellis Cropper, Founding Member of the Massachusetts Financial Educators Council, taught lessons ranging from career planning and entrepreneurship to fundamental money management topics.

Originally, the pilot program was going to include only a fifth-grade class, which would allow for continuity to follow the students into the sixth grade within the same school. However, when Ellis Cropper arrived for the first day of classes, Principal Dottin and Assistant Principal Boyd asked if he could also include a third- and fourth-grade class, which he was delighted to do.

Ellis found that teaching to all three grades provided excellent insight and supported the data indicating that financial behaviors start to develop between ages 7 and 9. The third- and fourth-grade students at Vernon Hill were excited to learn and get exposure to the topic, whereas fifth graders were more inclined to think money was something they would only learn or talk about as adults. Cropper explains that it took about five weeks to establish good rapport with the fifth graders while teaching a 40-minute-per-week class. As one fifth grader asked, “Do you think we’re adults or something, why do we have to learn about money?” Ellis made the connection that some of the students wanted to be soccer players or gymnasts. “Are you going to wait until you’re 18 to start learning to play soccer or start practicing gymnastics?” he asked. He found that this tactic resonated with the students and he started to see behavioral change.

Principal Dottin mentioned that one of his substitute teachers for the fifth-grade class was impressed that many of the students now want to be business owners.

Student Feedback & Impact

Many of the students who participated in the program had good things to say about the experience. The most notable quote was from Joyceline, a third grader at Vernon who said, “Before you started teaching this course I did not think that I could be a doctor, but now I know that if I just try, I can be a doctor…You are giving me the courage to do all that I’m doing right now.” Principal Dottin, who walked in just as Joyceline was being interviewed, commented, “Wow, I can measure your math and reading scores, but this is beyond measure.”

Ashley was a fifth-grade participant who would not engage with the teaching and showed absolutely no interest in the course. Ellis reports that when he walked into the classroom recently Ashley greeted him and said, “I started making and selling bracelets for $1.”

Fourth grader Dominique had a passion to be a trash man at the beginning of the class. After the introductory coursework on careers and entrepreneurship, he changed his mind and now has set his sights on being a businessman.

Ellis Cropper’s motto for the classes is “Learning is Earning.” When the children do something exemplary, he rewards them with between $1 and $20 in cash. During the class on contract practice, he offered five students $10 each to create a contract with their parents. Three of them completed the task successfully, but he found that Rosa’s contract was exceptional to the point where he asked whether an attorney wrote it.

Rising Above Massachusetts Financial Literacy Standards

While Massachusetts does not have financial literacy requirements in schools for any grade level, Craig Dottin and Kelly Boyd demonstrated their strong leadership by bringing this topic to serve Vernon Hill students and thereby showing their deep consideration for the children’s future financial well-being.

Their efforts in helping to advance financial literacy programming in Massachusetts distinguish Craig Dottin and Kelly Boyd as well-deserving recipients of the Financial Education Community Champion Award.

[WORCESTER, MA, DATE] – The Massachusetts Financial Educators Council (MFEC) announced today that Craig Dottin, Principal and Kelly Boyd, Assistant Principal at Vernon Hill Elementary School are recipients of the organization’s Financial Education Community Champion Award. This award recognizes outstanding leadership in promoting financial education and empowerment at the community level. Dottin and Boyd merit this distinction because they brought a standalone financial literacy program – taught by Ellis Cropper, founding member of the MFEC – to third, fourth, and fifth graders at the school.

The Financial Education Community Champion award was created to recognize those organizations and individuals who exhibit outstanding leadership in promoting financial literacy and economic empowerment in their communities. Craig Dottin and Kelly Boyd richly deserve this recognition for their efforts above and beyond to educate and inspire Vernon Hill children with financial wellness instruction.

Ellis Cropper, Retired Army Major, ChFC®, and CLTC®, also holds designation as a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®) and spearheads financial education initiatives across Massachusetts. He reports that he originally was asked to teach just a fifth-grade class in money management. However, when he arrived at the school for the first session, Principal Dottin and Assistant Principal Boyd asked him if he could teach to the third and fourth grades as well. This decision was an excellent choice, as Cropper discovered that the third and fourth graders were excited and motivated to learn about the topic.

Students who participated in the coursework made positive comments and behavior changes as a result of the instruction. For example, third grader Joyceline said, “Before you started teaching this course I did not think that I could be a doctor, but now I know that if I just try, I can be a doctor…You are giving me the courage to do all that I’m doing right now.” Ashley, a fifth grader who appeared uninterested in engaging in the class, recently told Ellis that she has started making and selling bracelets. And young Dominique, a fourth grader, has changed his career aspirations from being a trash collector to starting his own business.

The state of Massachusetts currently has no financial literacy requirements in schools. Craig Dottin and Kelly Boyd have shown their strong leadership qualities by bringing this important topic to Vernon Hill children to improve their future financial well-being. The Massachusetts Financial Educators Council expresses its sincere gratitude to these well-deserving recipients of the Financial Education Community Champion Award.