We depend on donors to continue to utilize the best educational technology, build new programs to meet evolving needs, and develop the most up-to-date resources. Thanks to the generosity of our donor, Scott Booth, and our Board Co-Chairman, Barry Haimes, all gifts received by June 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $175,000.

Here are some ways that you can invest in a brighter future for our kids:

• $150 donation trains one teacher in interactive classroom learning activities. That teacher will reach 50-150 students each year.
• $500 donation outfits a classroom with books and materials about earning, saving, investing and managing money.
• $1,250 provides a full scholarship for a teacher to attend CEE’s highly regarded 52^nd Annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference, where educators share best practices and receive training on new resources.

For more information, please contact Tarnisha Smart, Director of Development.

POSTED: May 1, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: CEE Board, Challenge Grant, economics, Financial Literacy, personal finance, Students, teachers

Eight high school teams have earned a trip to New York City to compete for cash prizes and academic recognition in the 13th Annual National Economics Challenge. The eight teams won both state and Semi-Finals competitions in their respective divisions, defeating over 10,000 students from 40 states to advance to the Finals.

The Challenge offers students two levels of competition on the basis of their course enrollment. Students enrolled in advanced placement, international baccalaureate and honors economics courses entered the Adam Smith Division, and students enrolled in single semester general economics classes competed in the David Ricardo Division.

The Finalist teams are:

DAVID RICARDO DIVISION (single semester general economics students)

• Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana
• Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts
• Little Falls Community High School, Little Falls, Minnesota
• Olympia High School, Olympia, Washington

ADAM SMITH DIVISION (AP, IB and honors students)

• Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut
• Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawai’i
• Mounds View High School, Arden Hills, Minnesota
• Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, Maryland

Teams will compete Saturday, May 18 in three written tests and one critical thinking round to answer questions on complex economic concepts and theories involving micro- and macroeconomics, international economics and current events.  The National Economics Challenge Finals culminates in a quiz-bowl round Sunday, May 19 at the WNET Tisch Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. The event will be broadcast live, and you can watch on the CEE’s Facebook page.

Students across the country participate in the state and Semi-Final rounds of the National Economics Challenge:

POSTED: May 1, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Awards, Contest, economics challenge, High School, Students

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 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