The Saturday School | A free program focused on improving the lives and brains of young men | Morning

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One thing lacking in the younger generation is the knowledge of financial literacy. The Community Connections Group has launched a new program focused on improving that.

It is a free, 18-week long program for 13- to 17-year-old boys.

James Litton, president of Community Connections Group, visited WDRB Mornings on Monday to talk more about the program.

The program is meant to empower young men in the age range with the importance of managing and saving money. The ultimate goal is to introduce them to "The American Dream" and one day owning their own home.

Litton came up with the idea at the gym one day. He was watching a young man play basketball, and noticed how wildly talented the individual was. A bystander happened to stop him and told him that he wouldn't go too far because he was in the 8th grade and couldn't read.

Litton went home that evening and wrote up the program, now called The Saturday School.

While in The Saturday School, individuals will learn the basics on banking 101, what a checking account and a savings account are and how to use them, as well as reading comprehension.

"If you don't know how to read when you come into this program, you will once you complete it," Litton said on WDRB Mornings on Monday.

The Community Connections Group was hoping to enroll around 30 young men in their program, but after WDRB's Darby Beane did a preview story on the program back in November, the list quickly grew and there are now 159 kids on the waitlist.

The Saturday School is in need of volunteers and experts to come in and teach the classes, as well as to pour love and positive energy into the kids.

The program now is strictly concentrated on young men, but Litton said there is information in the works on programs for young women and adults.

Community Connections Group has made a commitment to run the program for three years.