October 14, 2008 

•  Coverage times available
•  Tuesdays 12:45 p.m. to 2 p.m.
•  Thursdays 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - More than 40 UAB School of Business graduate and undergraduate students are participating in a Service Learning* project that has the college students teaching business principles to third, fourth and fifth graders at Birmingham's Glen Iris and Epic Elementary Schools.  The outreach project comes at a time when an ongoing international financial crisis makes a basic knowledge of business and finance more important to the next generation, said organizers and participants. 

The UAB students are working in 25 different elementary school classrooms during the fall semester scheduled to end December 2008.  The program is organized in conjunction with Junior Achievement of Greater Birmingham, the supplier of the instructional materials used in the classes.

The grade school students are learning a range of business principles like how to balance a checkbook, write a check and develop business proposals and financial plans.  The learning experience is a two-way street, offering the UAB students-turned-teachers a chance to improve their social and leadership skills ahead of their business careers.

Teaching up in front of the kids gives us college students a chance to build important skills like public speaking and time management," said UAB business student Adam Arnold, an elementary classroom instructor.

 *Service Learning at UAB is a program through which course instructors select partnership sites and place students in teaching roles at those sites that meets both university course objectives and larger community needs.