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Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition & Next Gen Personal Finance
Partnership for PD

Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition and Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) partnered in 2021 to provide Connecticut educators with engaging professional development opportunities. The following virtual events were available for educators to attend at no cost:

  • February 25, 2021 – 5 in 50
    Hands-on session featuring 5 NGPF resources that you can use immediately in your classroom including Questions of the Day and the Teacher Toolkit.
  • March 30, 2021 – Teaching via Arcade Games
    Play games from the NGPF Arcade and share implementation strategies through active collaboration with peer teachers.
  • April 29, 2021 – FinCamp
    A fast-paced three hour session that will include sessions on behavioral finance, checking in the 21st Century and activities that your students will love.

Financial Reality Fairs

A Financial Reality Fair is a hands-on experience in which students, after identifying their career choice and starting salaries, are provided a budget sheet requiring them to live within their monthly salary while paying for basics such as housing, utilities, transportation, clothing and food. Of course, there are many temptations for additional spending, and students must learn to balance their wants and needs to live on their own.  After they have visited all the booths, students will balance their budget, and then sit down with a financial counselor to review their standing. The fair is a unique opportunity for each student to experience some of the financial challenges he or she will face when starting life on their own.  More information may be found on the Credit Union League of Connecticut website.

Connecticut Financial Reality Fairs are organized by the Financial Reality Fair Foundation and Connecticut’s Credit Unions.

LifeSmarts

LifeSmarts is a national educational opportunity for teenagers in Grades 9 through 12.  LifeSmarts focuses on five key areas of consumer knowledge that teens need to know in order to independently negotiate today’s increasingly complex marketplace: Personal Finance, Health and Safety, the Environment, Technology, and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities.  LifeSmarts helps teens to become smart, savvy, responsible consumers and citizens. Teens gain a solid understanding of their consumer rights and responsibilities and workplace protections.  They have fun competing while developing teamwork skills, self-esteem, verbal communication, and leadership.

Members of a Connecticut LifeSmarts team study together under the supervision of at least one adult coach and compete online for the right to face-off against other teams at the State Championship match. The State Champion represented Connecticut at the National Championship.  Both the state and national competitions are exciting game show-style matches.

Contact

For more information contact CT Jump$tart President Faye Griffiths-Smith, at connecticutjumpstart@gmail.com.