Newswise — Did you know that once you sign the back of your credit card, it comes to life and talks you into making all sorts of unnecessary purchases?
Well, of course this doesn't happen in reality, but it is what happens in "Cash Rules," a DVD written, produced and directed by Indiana State University business education majors " members of Pi Omega Pi, the national business education teacher honor society.
The DVD project is aimed at bringing the issues of credit card ownership and financial responsibility to life. What started as a simple skit presentation to freshmen orientation students two years ago ballooned into a full-fledged DVD project and national conference exposure.
"I was never exposed to credit cards or any topic relating to it in high school," said Adrie Koehler, the daughter of Jeff and Mary Koehler of Center Point and a 2002 graduate of Clay City High School. "I think a lot of students don't really know what they're getting into or what's involved in owning a credit card, so this video will address that."
Koehler, a business education major, portrays a character who gets sucked into using her credit card for unnecessary purchases, pushing her further and further into debt.
The project was the brainchild of senior business education/business administration major Chris Street, a student teacher this semester (spring 2005) at Northview High School in Brazil.
"Indiana State University is responsible for this," Street said. "We have a lot of motivated students in our department, and we've had a lot of professors along the way who have allowed us to use our skills to put this project together."
Street, the son of John and Kathy Street of Orleans, is a 2000 graduate of Mitchell High School. Formerly president of ISU's Pi Omega Pi chapter, he has presented at national conferences and to smaller groups about personal financial literacy. As a student at ISU, he has been involved in Alpha Kappa Psi and the Dean's Student Advisory Council.
The original goal in presenting the skit to students at ISU's orientation was to educate incoming freshmen about all types of money management.
"We've always tried to present financial information at Knowing Sycamores (orientation)," said Jan Arnett, associate dean of students. "We used to have someone come in and do smaller group sessions on financial responsibility, but this seemed like a great experiential learning opportunity for our students. We've been very pleased with the sessions, and they've gotten great reviews."
Then, as the "Cash Rules" concept picked up speed, Street decided to enhance the skit and have it videotaped and more widely distributed " this time, as an educational tool for all high school students and educators, in Indiana and possibly across the country.
"Chris (Street) was the energy behind the project from the beginning," said Bill Wilhelm, assistant professor and business education/information technology program coordinator for the College of Business. "He wrote the script, developed the interactive tools, recruited and rehearsed with the other students, and he is overseeing the final production. He did all of the tweaking and refining and got kids to come back early from Christmas break to work on it."
Wilhelm says as teachers, his students really know the value of getting their students involved in the subject matter and engaging them in discussions that will inevitably help them learn.
"They see the benefits of performance learning," Wilhelm added. "They know that high school kids aren't going to learn much from a talking head. They have to be engaged so they can learn by doing. Chris has taken the bull by the horns and put in a lot of his own time on this project."
The team of students involved in the project include: Street, writer and director, a senior from Mitchell; Adrie Koehler, a junior from Center Point; Tina Bedel, a senior from Batesville; Shanna Brames, a senior from Bretzville; Brett Hoopingarner, a senior from Fort Wayne; Bart Jochim, a Terre Haute senior; Andy Dunn, a senior from Rushville; and student helpers Jessica Burch, a Clinton senior; and Jamie Wagner, a Kokomo junior.
Beyond production of the DVD, Street and a few of his teammates presented a session on "Cash Rules" and the story of its success at the national Pi Omega Pi conference March 23-25 in Anaheim, Calif.
As valuable of a tool as "Cash Rules" will be for current and future teachers, the DVD project has been even more valuable to the ISU students involved " as a tool for gaining the hands-on experiences they need to be successful in the classrooms of the future.
"It was a good learning experience to work with video because you don't realize the amount of work that goes into making one," said Brames, the daughter of Jim and Shirley Brames of Huntingburg and a 2001 graduate of Forest Park High School. "I think projects like these are important because they are a real-world experience that we will all take with us."
Wilhelm agrees.
"We get them involved in this organization while in school so they will continue that involvement as professionals," he said. "ISU has a very good reputation for top quality business educators. When you see these kids in action, you can tell they're going to get in the classroom and make learning about business enjoyable."
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