Classrooms Without Borders: How Fruit Salad Taught Our Students Financial Literacy
Hello EBI Family!
For the months of February and March, our STEAM Exchange students across Baltimore City, Carroll County, and Ghana stepped away from their screens for a different kind of challenge: Financial Literacy!
At Expanding Boundaries International (EBI), we believe that understanding the power of money is a vital step toward true global citizenship and future workforce readiness. Led by the incredible Mr. Tony, this special session turned into an eye opening journey that helped our youth look at money in a whole new way.
Different Countries, Different Views
The sessions started with a fascinating look at how different cultures view wealth. Our students in Ghana shared how making a lot of money can sometimes be viewed with suspicion or negative cultural labels in their communities. Meanwhile, our students in Maryland talked about how making money is often seen as a way to buy big houses and nice cars.
Mr. Tony guided them past these ideas to focus on what money truly represents. They discussed:
- How money is actually earned through work and value.
- How to budget and spend it wisely.
- The importance of saving for long term security.
From there, our youth dove into the realities of family budgeting. They learned how their parents balance paychecks to pay for everyday needs like groceries, electricity, rent, mortgages, clothing, and school supplies. It was a wonderful way to connect financial choices to real life situations and mental well being.
The Fruit Salad Challenge
To put their new skills to the test, we gave our students a hands on challenge. We chose a simple fruit salad project because it was safe, fun, and required no cooking or fire. All they needed was fresh fruit, a bowl, water, and safety tools.
We broke the students into groups and gave them a set budget:
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US Students: Received $20 per group.
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Ghana Students: Received between 50 and 100 Cedis per group, depending on the group size.
Using a template, the teams had to write down a list of ingredients, guess how much each item would cost, and build a budget. Then, it was time to shop!
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Step 1: Write Down the Ingredient List Every great meal starts with a clear plan. Before going to the store, look at your recipe. Write down every single item you need to buy. This keeps you focused and stops you from buying things you do not need.
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Step 2: Guesstimate the Total Store Cost Before looking at the store prices, make an educated guess. Look at your list and write down what you think each item will cost. Add those numbers up to find your guessed total. This helps practice estimation skills and prepares the mind for the next step.
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Step 3: Shop, Compare Prices, and Calculate the Cost Per Person Now it is time to visit the store. Look at different brands to find the best deal. Write down the real prices and add them up to see your final total. To finish the project, divide that final total by the number of people eating. This tells you exactly how much the meal costs for each person.
A Real Eye Opener for Our Youth
This exercise was a major milestone for many of our participants. A lot of these students had never gone grocery shopping or calculated food costs before.
One of our students, Kwame, shared that this was his very first time writing a grocery list and going to the store independently to buy groceries. Another student, Ashley, mentioned that the exercise completely changed how she looks at her home life. She said she finally understood what her parents go through just to buy groceries and provide food for the house. It was a true game changer for them!
The shopping trip also highlighted the unique differences between their environments:
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Our Maryland students traveled to Aldi to shop at a structured grocery store.
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Our Ghana students shopped at vibrant local roadside markets.
Through virtual sharing, the students compared their experiences. While both groups bought staples like apples, bananas, and strawberries, the students quickly realized that availability changes by region. For instance, our US teams could add grapes to their salad, but our Ghana teams could not find them locally. This sparked an amazing conversation about global trade and local agriculture.
In the end, the kids did a wonderful job counting their money and staying within their budgets. They calculated their final costs down to the penny to see how much it cost to feed each person in the class. For example, a US team with 15 people had to divide their $20 budget to discover it cost just over a dollar to feed each teammate. This is a huge success for our STEAM Exchange program, which helps maintain our 80% to 90% student attendance rate and our 80% student retention rate from middle school through high school graduation.
Grounded in Passion: 12 Years of Global Impact
This financial literacy module perfectly reflects the core of why EBI exists. Our Founder and Executive Director, Leticia Nortey, knows exactly how much a single educational spark can change a life. Leticia did not even use a computer for the first time until she was 16 years old. Later, a life-changing study abroad trip to China opened her eyes to the vast world of technology and cultural exchange.
Since founding EBI in 2014, Leticia has dedicated her career to closing the digital and cultural divide. Now, celebrating 12 years of global impact, EBI continues to clear roadblocks so that underserved youth can step confidently into their own leadership potential. Through our STEAM Exchange, we continue to prepare over 400 youth every year across Baltimore, Carroll County, and Ghana to become smart global leaders.
Support Our Mission
We want to give a huge thank-you to Mr. Tony, all of our incredible volunteers, and the market women and men who made these months so impactful!
Are you ready to help us empower the next generation of global leaders and tech innovators? You can support our programs by making a donation, becoming a youth mentor, or signing up to volunteer.
Visit our official website at https://expandingboundaries.org/ or call us at 410.881.7449 to get involved today! Don’t forget to follow our journey on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
