As part of their volunteer employment at the Bulldog Bookstore in the Jr./Sr. High School, seniors Alina Gubbins, Samantha Dee, Alexis Flack, Ari Young, Tessie Shafer, Marlee Shafer, Lauren Stevens and Madison St. Peter have learned and fine-tuned many important real-life skills. They are also accustomed to handling money.
On March 7 and 8, the group of seniors discussed the value of money and practiced counting with second grade students at the Primary Elementary School. 
The lesson was given to each of the three second grade classes in the Primary Elementary School library. Mrs. Livermore, Primary Elementary library media specialist, came up with the idea. During mid-winter recess, she contacted Mrs. Weissenberger, Jr./Sr. High School business teacher and College & Career Enrichment Program coordinator, to ask if some of her students would be willing to review the basics of money with second grade students. Mrs. Weissenberger immediately thought of and selected senior Alina Gubbins to lead the effort.
Gubbins, an aspiring elementary special education teacher who is attending Mohawk Valley Community College in the fall to major in education, worked with Mrs. Weissenberger to brainstorm and develop the lesson from scratch.
“In addition to the lesson plan, Mrs. Weissenberger helped me come up with my team to present the lesson,” Gubbins said. “All of us are either majoring in education in college or just love kids. I’m grateful for Mrs. Weissenberger thinking of me.”
The lesson started with a brief video explaining how the size of an object doesn’t always correlate with increased value. For example, while a rock may be bigger than a diamond, it’s not worth more. Gubbins and her team then asked the second grade students to identify and share the value of a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, one-dollar bill, five-dollar bill, ten-dollar bill, fifty-dollar bill and one-hundred dollar bill. The second grade students were also asked if they knew the name of the American figure on each coin and bill. The lesson concluded with a worksheet asking the second grade students to determine if there was enough money to buy a particular item. The activity involved counting, adding and subtracting.
“I think it went really well,” Gubbins said of the experience. “I loved it and wish I could do it again.”
Fortunately, for Gubbins, she has another opportunity in the near future to use her teaching skills. During the week of March 21, Gubbins is meeting with Mrs. Granza’s seventh and eighth grade students to offer some pointers on presenting. Gubbins takes Media Productions and is a regular on the daily morning broadcast.
“Students teaching students is powerful,” Mrs. Weissenberger said. “It’s engaging, fun and educational! It also allows students to become leaders and have a tremendous impact on helping others master a concept.”