We encourage the development of curriculum in a variety of disciplines and across the grades that support the Standard Aligned System of Pennsylvania.
In summer 2012 fifteen teachers from across Pennsylvania participated in a week-long teacher institute about thrift. As part of the course, they created lessons for elementary and secondary teacher use. In 2013, some of the teachers returned to hone the lessons and create a scope and sequence for integrating thrift into the classroom.
Also in 2013, HSP conducted a TeachingThrift Curriculum Development Contest, funded by Dr. John and Josephine Templeton. Arlene Haigh of South Mountain Middle School in Allentown PA was the Grand Prize winner, Susan Condor of Lawrence County CTC, the runner up.
Get a lesson plan here
A high school level lesson - “Thrift and Community Development” - was created by Philadelphia high school teacher Bernadette McHenry. This lesson relates the historic thrift movement to modern America, especially with respect to poverty and its attendant social problems. It was published in the fall issues of Pennsylvania Legacies and can be found with our other unit plans.
Online Primary Resources
HSP has one of the largest archived collections about the historical thrift movement in the United States. To aid in classroom teaching, many of these primary sources have been placed in HSP’s Digital Library where they can be easily accessed for white board teaching or student assignments. One gallery features materials about the thrift movement in general and another about School Savings Banks. Teachers also can purchase reproductions of the digitized materials through the Digital Library.