Teenagers like Christi Cage, Jaidieze Morales, Mary Thomas and Jamal Brown, who are working this summer in Lake Count Workforce Development’s summer youth employment program got a chance to learn about managing the money they are earning.
“You can get money from a bank for opening an account there,” Cage, a Warren Township High School sophomore, said. “They pay you.”
“I’m going to open a savings account,” added Thomas, a Waukegan High School junior. “I need to start saving.”
Brown, Thomas, Morales and Cage were among 110 Lake County teens learning about finances and much more to help them make wise decisions at the 10th-annual Waukegan Township Coalition to Reduce Recidivism Teen Summit July 18 in Waukegan.
Waukegan Township Supervisor Marc Jones said the township organized the event in collaboration with Lake County Workforce Development for students from Waukegan, North Chicago Community, Zion-Benton Township and Warren Township high schools.
“We’re giving them enlightenment and exposure to information that may not otherwise be readily available to them,” he said.
Jones said the participants spent the morning in small groups attending five breakout sessions. They learned about financial literacy, financial aid available for those thinking about college, community peace, mind building and profitable use of social media.
During lunch and afterward, the group was together with Lake Michigan views in the Eleanor Murkey Room at the College of Lake County’s Lakeshore Campus in Waukegan. They heard a panel discussion, where they got more tips about making good choices.
Morales, Thomas, Brown and Cage learned about banking and the importance of having an account at a financial institution in a breakout session conducted in part by Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim.
Thomas and Cage were asked at lunch what was the most interesting thing they learned in the morning. They both talked about what they gleaned in Kim’s session, as did Morales and Brown.
“You have to save your money,” Brown said.
“I’m going to open a bank account,” Morales said.
Without a banking relationship, Kim said people cash their checks at a currency exchange or grocery store and pay a fee. There is no fee when someone deposits a check in the bank or a credit union.
“They probably didn’t know about interest-bearing accounts,” Kim said. “If you use a bank or a credit union it’s free. I don’t want them to make a mistake many of their parents make.”
Growing up as the child of immigrants, Kim said she did not hear her parents talking about money at home. She did not learn the basics of personal finance until she was older. More people are unbanked in northeast Lake County than other parts of the state.
“You know who talks about money,” Kim said. “Rich people talk about money all the time. They talk about taxes and their investments. The first step is having a bank or credit union account. It’s huge.”
As the participants listened to Dre Warship, a supervisor with Lake County Peacemakers, the message was very different. It was about making decisions to stay safe and out of trouble. A one-time prisoner, he told them what not to do.
“Dig into your brain and look at all the violence,” Warship said. “Suppress it, and don’t let it play into your life.”
While they ate lunch, the young people heard Averill Gordon, a one-time corporate executive turned entrepreneur. He owns two drug stores and an online prescription service.
Ciera McNeal, a mental health expert, Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education member Adrianna Gonzalez and Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Craig Neal were also part of the panel.
Offering a variety of suggestions, McNeal told the teens they may not realize it now, but networking is a key to advancing any career. It has helped her achieve a variety of successful positions.
“It’s not what you know, but who you know,” she said. “When you’re older, networking is going to be very important to your growth. You’re not always going to be with people who look like you.”
Every teenager at the summit had one thing in common. They are all working this summer. Jennifer Everett, the youth program manager for Lake County Workforce Development, said they are all between 14 and 17 earning $15 an hour.
Their tasks range from clerical, to physical outdoor labor, to assisting at summer camps with children, to working for Zion Township, to the Waukegan Park District, to farming with the College of Lake County’s farm at the Greenbelt Forest Preserve in North Chicago
