Instructor Spotlight: Tyronda Boone
The Recreation Department would like to highlight one of our amazing instructors, Tyronda Boone! Tyronda, lovingly known as “Ms. Ty,” is a financial literacy and money management instructor for our recreation programs. She is originally from Georgia and has a master’s degree in education and finance. She has more than 20 years of teaching experience under her belt, making her abundantly qualified to lead our finance-centered programs. In Ms. Ty’s free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and learning more about history. She loves her community and has a goal to empower everyone with financial information that will uplift the next generation. Take a few moments to get to know Tyronda Boone.
Q: Where does your passion for financial planning and literacy come from?
A: My ancestors have been my inspiration. My parents inspired me to raise awareness about financial literacy. When I was growing up, my parents described difficult financial situations they faced in their lives due to their lack of wealth and educational opportunities. I remember my father describing how the system of tenant farming (sharecropping) was the cause for his family’s poverty.
Additionally, he did not have the luxury of being left an inheritance by his parents upon their demise. Conversely, land was passed down to Boone’s mother and siblings. These events and conversations motivated me to introduce the concept of building generational wealth to my daughter when she was four years old. I wanted her to be aware of how to use money to grow her wealth. From that desire to help my daughter, I reached out to the community and discovered more families eager to teach their children the same fiscal information. Zoey and Zander’s Guide to Success was born.
Q: Why do you think it’s important for young people to have an early understanding of how to manage their money?
A: Imagine if we did not call a person by one name until they were adults. There would be mass confusion. However, children know their names as infants. They recognize hearing their names. As they become older, they recognize their name in written form, and then they learn to write it themselves. Provided the opportunity, they typically thrived. Early exposure to any concept is vital, so teaching children about finances as early as possible is important. We do not want our young people to learn about money as adults. Learning financial literacy as children can help them avoid many fiscal mistakes.
Q: What do you hope participants will take away from your class?
A: I hope that families start talking about money. Families are a wealth of knowledge. When class is over, students ask parents if what they are purchasing is a need or a want, develop savings goals as a family, discuss ways to avoid student loans, and look for ways to use credit to build wealth. When my class is over, I hope students will look for ways to grow their wealth using the toolkit given to them in class.
Q: How do you know when you’ve had a successful class?
A: We have students who have enrolled in every class made available to them. When students tell me this class is great and parents tell me about how their spending habits have changed, I know class has been a success. Additionally, the engagement of the students lets me know they are actively learning. The challenge is to make virtual learning as fun as possible. After putting together lessons, students are typing questions in the chat and debating various fiscal schools of thought with one another. The banter that takes place in the class lets me know it was successful.
Q: What have you enjoyed the most about working with the young people of Takoma Park?
A: I love working with the students. The young people are eager to learn about how to make use of their money as adults. There are so many moments where I see their eyes light up after understanding a concept. Working with them has been a pleasure. They are committed to their future, and their enthusiasm regarding wealth gets me excited. An organization that places so much value on the financial literacy of a community is a wonderful place. I want to say thank you to Takoma Park for hosting me. You are helping me reach the masses, so many thanks to you.
This article was featured in the May 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.
