BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015
A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Send submissions or story ideas for the Herald Business page to Editor Jessica Keller, jkeller@hermistonherald.com
Involving
children in
vacation
planning
F
amily vacations
produce memories
for a lifetime,
but they can also teach
children great money
lessons they’ll need as
adults.
Involving children in
planning family vacations
not only helps them
appreciate the overall
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offers an opportunity
for even the youngest
to learn lessons about
budgeting, saving
and essential money
management they will
encounter every day.
If you have trouble
tearing your children
away from their
smartphones, you
might be in luck. The
technology they use
can be very effective in
budgeting, pricing and
SODQQLQJWUDYHO6XU¿QJ
travel destinations can
teach children a great
deal about what travel
really costs.
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planning the family
vacation should be
creating a budget for the
trip. Set a realistic dollar
limit for the trip and be
prepared to discuss why
that limit exists. For
example, if there is a
home renovation project
scheduled that particular
year, explain how that
affects the overall
family budget and the
resources for the trip. It’s
an important lesson in
balancing fun and family
priorities.
After these limits
are discussed, work
with children to create
a detailed budget for
accommodations,
transportation, food,
special event tickets and
souvenirs, particularly
souvenirs they might
buy for themselves. For
tips, check out (http://
practicalmoneyskills.
com/travel) for saving
on and this online
calculator (http://
practicalmoneyskills.
com/travelcalculator) to
help plan.
Once the budget is
set, point children in
the direction of certain
travel websites to start
and let them bring back
as much information as
they can on potential
locations and costs.
Putting youth
JASON ALDERMAN
MONEY MATTERS
Visa columnist
in charge of travel
planning gives them
an opportunity to
learn about trade-
offs. For example, a
cross-country trip that
involves substantial
transportation costs
might contain a
valuable lesson in
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accommodations.
Depending on the age
of the children doing
the research and how
much advance time is
available to plan the trip,
they can also learn how
traveling in season and
out of season might help
the budget. Many peak
summer destinations
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more affordable if a
family chooses to travel
over the winter holidays.
Above all, trip
planning can teach an
important lesson in
spending and savings.
If children want to
buy souvenirs or treats
on the trip, that’s an
opportunity to have
them set aside part of
their allowance or chore
money to pay for their
special purchases on
the trip. To get them
started, help them save
for their goal using this
online calculator (http://
practicalmoneyskills.
com/savingforagoal).
Finally, once
everyone is home,
parents and children
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discuss how the vacation
went overall and what
improvements can
be applied next time.
Encourage children to
start researching next
year’s destinations
immediately so the
money and activity
conversation can begin
even earlier.
Bottom line: Involving
your children in family
vacation planning allows
them to see the world
and to practice good
budgeting, saving and
spending habits.
— Jason Alderman
GLUHFWV9LVD¶V¿QDQFLDO
education programs. To
Follow Jason Alderman
on Twitter: www.twitter.
com/PracticalMoney
Bottom line: Involving your children
in family vacation planning allows
them to see the world and to
practice good budgeting, saving
and spending habits.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE KANE
Girls Scouts from Hermiston Troop 51444 learn business skills through annual cookie sales. From left, Claire Wilson, Laura
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Girl Scouts learn business skills
Annual cookie
sales promote goal
setting, money
management
and ethics
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Girl Scouts raise funds
for community service
projects during their annual
cookie sales, but the project
also teaches them valuable
business skills.
Hermiston resident Sta-
cia Miller, the Girl Scouts
Service Unit 22 product
manager who coordinates
the cookie sales in Uma-
tilla, Morrow, Gilliam and
Wheeler counties, said the
project teaches girls how to
create businesses for them-
selves.
“We tell the girls that
this is their business,” she
said. “We encourage them
to treat this as a business.
They have customers. They
have this money that comes
in, and we encourage them
to take the money they take
in and give it back to com-
munity service. I think the
way the cookie program is
set up is really excellent,
and I really encourage my
teachers to teach that to the
Find Girl Scout Cookies
Local Girl Scouts will be selling cookies at booths outside local busi-
nesses, including Wal-Mart, Space Age, Banner Bank and Safeway,
Friday through Sunday. For times and locations, visit cookielocator.
littlebrownie.com.
girls.”
Miller said she helped
with Girl Scouts since her
ninth-grader was in kin-
dergarten, and this is her
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cookie sales. She said she
has two daughters in Girl
Scouts and has seen the
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“My
seventh-grader
is much more personable
talking to people,” she
said. “She’s really grown
in her people skills. In gen-
eral, she’s just blossomed
through the interactions
that she’s done with her
cookie program. I’ve seen
it kind of come out in other
areas.”
Miller said the cookie
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things, mentioned on every
box: setting goals, deci-
sion making, money man-
agement, people skills and
business ethics.
She said the girls are re-
quired to set goals for their
sales and make decisions
about the best way to pres-
ent and sell the product. She
said they must also manage
the revenue they earn.
“They can decide com-
munity service projects,
what they’re going to do
with their money and, of
course, the younger girls
learn how to give change,”
she said.
The girls also learn to
communicate with custom-
ers, she said, and learn to
operate ethically, such as
not selling in Washington,
where the cookie sales be-
gin at a later date.
“The girls build a busi-
ness with their Girl Scout
cookies,” she said. “I think,
with the right leader and the
right focus for the girls, it’s
an excellent business.”
Sales were so great this
year, the organization ran
out of cookies in Oregon
after selling 2 million box-
es in 10 days, and Service
Unit 22 almost doubled its
sales from last year. Mill-
er said she is expecting a
shipment today to prepare
for this weekend’s booth
sales in front of local busi-
nesses, and because of the
shortage, the girls will be
allowed to sell beyond the
scheduled cut-off date Sun-
day. She said they were giv-
en permission to sell for up
to two more weeks to reach
their goals, but the last
scheduled booth sales are
this weekend. Miller said
people can use an online
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nearest booth at cookielo-
cator.littlebrownie.com.
For more information
about Girl Scouts, visit
girlscoutsosw.org.
“The girls build
a business with
their Girl Scout
cookies. I think,
with the right
leader and the
right focus for
the girls, it’s
an excellent
business.”
— Stacia Miller
Hermiston resident
BUSINESS BITES
Farm Worker and Ag
Employer Expo today
People are invited to the second
annual Farm Worker and Ag Em-
ployer Expo from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
today at the Hermiston Conference
Center, 415 S. Highway 395, Herm-
iston, Oregon.
Guest speakers include Fernan-
do Gutierrez, state monitor advo-
cate for the Oregon Employment
Department; Liz Marvin, Project
College Bound coordinator with
the Hermiston School District,
who will provide information on
FAFSA; Manny Medrano with Or-
egon Human Development Corp.;
Elvira Salamanca with CAPECO,
who will share training and edu-
cation opportunities available; and
a farm worker attorney. People
will also hear about other train-
ing and employment programs to
help build the workforce and learn
more about the Latino Business
Network. Fiesta Foods will be
serving dinner at the beginning of
the event.
For more information, call the
Hermiston Chamber of Commerce
at 541-567-6151 or, for Span-
ish-speakers, Eddie De La Cruz,
541-701-4696.
Grand opening today
Shipping services of Hermis-
ton and the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce are hosting a grand
opening and ribbon-cutting cere-
mony beginning at noon today at
the business, 1000 S. Highway 395,
Hermiston.
Hermiston High School receives $3,000 from grant
Programs at 14 schools in Or-
egon, including Hermiston High
School, received welcome help
as Wells Fargo, Wesley Matthews
and the Portland Trail Blazers
presented a total of $75,000 in
grants through their Take It to the
Court for Education program.
The grants ceremony took
place March 2 at the Moda Cen-
ter. The grants presented by Trail
Blazer player Wesley Matthews
and Wells Fargo Regional Presi-
dent Tracy Curtis included $3,000
to Hermiston High School. The
money will pay to send a counsel-
or to a training program, accord-
ing to a press release.
HermistonHerald
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 20
JESSICA KELLER
EDITOR
jkeller@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4533
MAEGAN MURRAY
REPORTER
mmurray@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4532
The grants ranged from $1,000
to $10,000, based on need.
The Trail Blazers, Matthews
and Wells Fargo announced the
program last October. Their intent
was to provide funds to teachers
and schools to support academic,
art and athletic, or community
programs in schools across the
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising
or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
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SEAN HART
REPORTER
smhart@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4534
SAM BARBEE
SPORTS REPORTER
sbarbee@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4542
region, according to the press re-
lease.
At the March 2 ceremony,
Curtis told the group their schools
were selected from 320 applica-
tions returned.
“Wells Fargo and the Trail
Blazers have individually pre-
sented grants to schools in the
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MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
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past,” Curtis said. “Take it to the
Court for Education is a natural
extension of our collaboration
and a desire by both our organiza-
tions to do everything we can for
education. We believe that quality
education is the most important
investment we can make for our
future generations.”
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