Vivian London-Crooks teaches financial literacy to a group of students during her 4-week summer class at the Berea 7th Day Adventist Church in Nyack July 11, 2019. London is an accountant with 20 years of experience. Carucha L. Meuse,


Parents always say they wish their kids understood the value of a dollar.

This summer, 20-year accounting veteran Vivian London-Crooks is doing something about it, leading financial literacy workshops in Nyack and Yonkers for pre-teens.

London-Crooks, a Rockland parent and CEO of London's Tax Services in Mount Vernon, developed the "Millionaire Mindset" program to help kids develop strategies for handling money and making their money grow. The four-week workshop introduces children to investing and wealth-building.

The idea came to London-Crooks two years ago in the same building where she now hosts the Rockland classes: Berea Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Nyack. As a Bible-study teacher, London-Crooks said she would occasionally ask the children questions about finances. They didn't get it.

"They didn't know what the value of money was," said London-Crooks. "They didn't know what a mortgage meant or what credit score was. They didn't know what a line of credit means and I had an interest in educating them."

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She said her goal is to help youth understand the value of a dollar — fulfilling parents' dreams — so they can make better money choices for their futures.

London-Crooks is offering the one-and-a-half hour courses every Wednesday on 67th South Broadway in Nyack, utilizing lessons, games and videos to tackle two main areas of finances: savings and investing.

She's also running her workshop at her son's former school in Yonkers, Oakview Preparatory School, a Seventh-Day Adventist school for grades Pre-K to 8.

Oakview Principal Eric Imbert liked the idea of teaching students about personal finance when he heard London-Crooks discuss it at a PTA meeting. 

"It's important for them to learn money management because that will help them in life," he said.

He said that some students bring expensive possessions to school, like sneakers, but "many times I see the children receive a lot from home and they do not value what they have."

London-Crooks collaborated with Imbert and church officials in Nyack to get her workshops off the ground. 

Financial literacy is not a fun summertime topic, London-Crooks admits, so making it interesting enough for children was a hurdle.

"I found that games make it fun," she said. "I do card games, memory games, board games, scenarios, using actual money. "

London-Crooks uses board games such as Cash Flow for Kids to cover topics like spending habits and savings in an interactive way. She also creates real-life scenarios that involve finances to get teens thinking about their everyday money decisions.

"With the older kids, I do more scenarios, writing and goal-setting and help them envision things they may be doing or will do in the near future," she said.

Joanne Bernadeau, who attends the Nyack church, said she thought the workshop would be perfect for her 12-year-old son, Kyle, who was already showing interest in money.

"My son loves money but I am not always sure that he knows what to do with it," she said. "This was a nice opportunity for him to get good advice from someone who works directly with money to help him manage the little earnings and savings he gets now."

Laudz Cheriel-Burke, whose 12-year-old daughter Nialah is also a participant, said the name of the program piqued her interest.

"The title of it was very interesting — 'Millionaire Mindset'," she said. "It's a good thing to have children start thinking at a young age about finances and money and how to manage their money so they can make wiser decisions."

The Nyack and Yonkers workshops have small enrollments at the start, but London-Crooks said she wants to extend the program as after-school courses to reach more students. She and Imbert will offer the workshop this fall an an option, and London-Crooks hopes to do something similar at the Nyack church.

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