Vermont Business Magazine The Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, in partnership with the Vermont State Board of Education, is offering a free online, on-demand conference on teaching personal finance that will begin on March 28, but will be accessible asynchronously through April 30.
The conference was originally offered last spring, when more than 500 registered for the event. Many educators indicated that due to pandemic related reasons they were unable to take this free training and asked that if be offered on more time. The economic sponsor of that 2021 event, Northfield Savings Bank Foundation, has provided funding to our Center so that we can offer this event one more time.
The event was designed primarily for Vermont K-12 educators. Again this year, the online, on-demand conference is also open to state adult educators, prison educators, social workers, and representatives from community action agencies and restorative justice programs in Vermont.
John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy, says the conference is designed to improve the financial literacy of 80,000 K-12 public education students by giving Vermont’s 8,000 educators access to the tools, resources and training they need to successfully integrate new personal finance education standards into their classrooms.
Pelletier says Jump$tart’s National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance were approved in 2018 by the Vermont State Board of Education. He says Vermont educators can earn up to 7 hours of professional development training over the 90-day period of the conference.
During the conference, which features nationally known experts, participants will learn how to implement the standards, which enable the teaching of personal finance in an interdisciplinary or standalone manner.
There will be educational tracks for elementary, middle and high school teachers.
Pelletier says Vermont and other states have embraced the JumpStart standards because they are more rigorous and comprehensive than most state standards. Experts agree that free, interdisciplinary personal finance standards are the most effective.
“Participants will also see that these standards are flexible, so that educators can develop appropriate and relevant content that aligns with the standards in content areas like mathematics, language arts, social studies, family and consumer sciences and business. This type of programming is also used by many special educator in the state with their students,” says Pelletier.
This event is being funded as part of a $200,000 grant from Northfield Savings Bank Foundation, $45,000 from the National Life Group Foundation and $16,000 from Next Gen Personal Finance.
Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy, the Vermont Agency of Education and 16 state educators created the materials for the conference and enlisted the speakers.
About Northfield Savings Bank Foundation
The Northfield Savings Bank Foundation (NSBF) was established in 2000 through Northfield Savings Bank (NSB) as part of NSB’s long-standing commitment to donate 10 percent of its yearly earnings to the local community. The Foundation supports Vermont-based efforts focused around improving residents’ well-being and self-sufficiency in areas such as financial literacy, education and at-risk youth. When considering an area of need or partnership, NSBF is deliberate, focused and thorough in its assessment to ensure significant results can be achieved given the amount of time and money to be invested. www.nsbvt.com
About Next Gen Personal Finance
Founded in 2014, Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is the leader in the K-12 personal finance space with more than 60,000 middle and high school teachers who rely on NGPF’s engaging, hands-on personal finance curriculum and professional development workshops. NGPF’s mission is to ensure that, by 2030, all students cross their high school graduation stage having taken a personal finance class. NGPF creates no-cost middle and high school curricula, offers no-cost teacher professional development workshops, and leads advocacy efforts to increase student access to personal finance education. Next Gen Personal Finance is based out of Palo Alto, California.
About the Center for Financial Literacy
Established in 2010, Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy is committed to improving the personal finance knowledge of our nation’s K–12 and college students, teachers, and adults. The Center supports this mission with advocacy, published research reports that are used by state and local policymakers, K-12 educator training programs, and providing training and tools for educators and college students. Champlain College is one of the few colleges that requires undergraduates to take personal finance training. The Center is nationally recognized for its work: by the White House in a 2012 report Every American Financially Empowered for its unique graduate-level training program for high school educators (subject to a National Endowment for Financial Education study and Center study) and its college undergraduate training programs; by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in reports for state and local policymakers (see 2015 Report and 2017 Report); and by the press for its Adult and High School Report Cards on Financial Literacy. The Center’s founding Director, John Pelletier, was formerly chief operating officer and chief legal officer at some of the largest asset management firms in the United States. John was appointed by the governor to co-chair the Vermont Financial Literacy Commission alongside the Vermont State Treasurer. For more information visit the Center’s website: www.champlain.edu/cfl.
About Champlain College
Champlain College has provided a radically pragmatic education since 1878. It is a small institution with big ideas, and supports innovation, social equity, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Champlain's multidimensional approach pairs in-depth career learning with a renowned Core curriculum and built-in financial literacy and career positioning program—providing a comprehensive educational experience unmatched in higher education. Graduates enjoy uncommon early career success: Over the last six years, 93% of graduates were employed or continuing their education within six months after graduating. All this is achieved through Champlain’s upside-down curriculum, faculty with industry experience and students who learn by doing.
To Register, click here.
Contact: John Pelletier at [email protected]
