In honor of Financial Literacy Month, CEE asked our nation’s K-12 classroom teachers to share their lesson plans in our contest “What is your most creative idea for implementing personal finance into the classroom?”

We received videos from across the country, and posted them on our Facebook page for our fans to vote for their favorite.

Congratulations to the Popular Vote Winner:

Teacher: Bobby Letter
School: Peak to Peak High School, Lafayette, CO

Congratulations to the CEE’s Choice Winner:

Teacher: Greg Cox
School: Ellis Elementary, Logan, UT

Both winners will receive a $1,000 gift card from American Express and a complimentary registration to our 52nd Annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference.

Thanks to all of the teachers who created videos, entered the contest and supported each other by voting. You can get inspiration for your own classroom by viewing all of the video submissions here.

POSTED: April 30, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Awards, Contest, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, Lessons, personal finance, teachers, video

By Andrew Hill, Economic Education Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Temple University.

Cocktail party conversation can often be difficult for even the most adept conversationalists among us. When meeting new people, an unavoidable topic is always what you do for a living. I was trained in graduate school to expect people to respond in unpredictable ways when I explain that I am an economist. Read more…

POSTED: April 30, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Councils & Centers, economics, Federal Reserve, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, parents, partners, personal finance, Students, teachers

By Shannon Schuyler, U.S. Corporate Responsibility Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I come from a family of educators. While I didn’t choose a similar career path, some might find it ironic that I devote as much time as I can to connecting with teachers to better understand the challenges they face, particularly as it relates to teaching financial literacy. Their perspective informs the solution.

Trust me when I tell you that there is no shortage of teachers out there with a desire to help prepare their “kids” to make responsible financial decisions. The recent financial crisis made it very apparent that our individual financial well being is a responsibility each of us must own, and that starts with understanding from an early age how our choices impact our financial stability. Read more…

POSTED: April 29, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: corporate responsibility, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, personal finance, teachers

By Jack E. Kosakowski, President and Chief Executive Officer of Junior Achievement USA.

In the next couple of months, millions of American teens will be graduating from high school. There was a time when this meant many kids would go off to college, get a degree and start a career. But in recent years, for a variety of reasons, including a sluggish economy and the growing skills gap in the American workforce, many kids are heading back home to live in mom and dad’s basement after receiving that college degree. A reality reinforced by recent assessments of Census data by Pew Research Center showing that more than one-in-four adults between the ages of 25 and 34 had moved back with their parents at one time or another during the “Great Recession.” Read more…

POSTED: April 26, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: College, Credit Cards, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, partners, personal finance, Research, Students, teens

By Joan Rosenbaum, 5th Grade Social Studies and Economics Teacher, North Star Public Charter School, Idaho.

Every year I take my students through a personal financing/budgeting unit, and I try to make it as real as possible. I am fortunate to have a guest speaker come to my classroom and explain the importance of having good insurance, which is definitely an important part of one’s budget.

One year I had a student who came to me and told me he didn’t want to pay for insurance. I asked him if he was really sure he wanted go through life without insurance. He told me he thought it would be a waste of his money. Since economics has everything to do with choices, I agreed to let him not pay insurance, but asked him if he was really sure about his choice he was making. He assured me that he did not want to include that in his budget. Read more…

POSTED: April 26, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: economics, Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, insurance, Lessons, personal finance, Students, teachers

By Michael Staten, Take Charge America Endowed Chair; Director, Take Charge America Institute, University of Arizona.

Kudos to CEE for devoting their blog space this month to many different voices making the case for financial education. I share the dilemma of every end-of-program speaker struggling to find something new to say. So, in these waning days of Financial Literacy Month, let me offer a few additional thoughts in support of school-based financial education for grades K-12.

Research has shown that the largest single determinant of money attitudes in teenagers and young adults is their parents, and the home environment in which they grow up.  But, that influence can be positive or negative. If we treat financial education as solely the responsibility of parents, then we admit that young people will not start their adult lives on a level playing field. Read more…

POSTED: April 25, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Financial Literacy, financial literacy month, higher education, parents, personal finance, Students