Ten RI High Schools Commit to Increasing Financial Literacy of Students

U.S. Senator Jack Reed Helps Secure Funding for Pilot Program

2.25.09 (Roger Williams Park Casino, Providence, RI) – The Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition will host an event to kickoff the Rhode Island Youth Personal Financial Education Expansion Program (RIFI) that involves agreements with ten Rhode Island public high schools to increase the quality and quantity of youth personal financial education for students.

Jim Hedemark, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition states:

“With pounds of ‘cure’ being spent in reaction to our nation’s economic crisis, it is high time we added many more ounces of prevention.Last year, we completed research that reveals that only five percent of Ocean State high school students elect to take a full course in personal finance each year.The financial literacy of our youth is a necessary component to reversing our troubling personal financial trends.This is the goal of the RIFI program.”

EVENT DATE & LOCATION
Wednesday, February 25th
3:30 – 5:00 PM
Roger Williams Park Casino (2nd Floor)
1000 Elmwood Avenue
Providence, RI 02907

SPEAKING AT THE EVENT
RI General Treasurer, Hon. Frank T. Caprio
Director of Economic Education, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, G. Scott Guild
Community Affiars Specialist, FDIC Boston Area Office, Paul Horwitz
President & CEO, Domestic Bank, Dean Holt
Executive Director, RI Higher Education Assistance Authority, William H. Hurry, Jr.
President & CEO, United Way of Rhode Island, Anthony Maione
Executive Director, RI Student Loan Authority, Charles Kelley, CFA, CPA

HIGH SCHOOLS TO BE RECOGNIZED (RIFI Program Schools)
Barrington High School
Central High School
Cranston High School West
Cumberland High School
Lincoln Senior High School
New England Laborers’/Cranston Public Schools Construction & Career Academy
North Providence High School
Pilgrim High School
Smithfield High School
William E. Tolman High School

ALSO AT THE EVENT (Students Honored)
Also at the February 25 event, two Rhode Island students will be honored who were among 362 in the United States who received near perfect scores out of over seventy-five thousand high school students who participated in the Fall 2008 National Financial Literacy Challenge, as offered by the United States Treasury Office of Financial Education.

Students, Monica Baker, a Junior at the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center, and David Tong, of Barrington High School each received medals from the U.S. Treasury for scoring at least 33 out of 35 question correctly on the Challenge.

The Challenge was developed and administered by the U.S. Treasury in consultation with four financial education organizations: the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Junior Achievement USA , the National Council on Economic Education, and the National Endowment for Financial Education, all of whom are represented on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy that recommended the national program.

The Challenge content is derived from the Jump$tart Coalition National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education and any classroom curricula or financial education program correlated to these standards would, generally, be sufficient preparation for this test. The exam consists of 35 multiple-choice questions on a variety of personal finance topics.

PILOT PROGRAM SUMMARY (RIFI Program)
The RIFI program is being managed by the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition which will work with school based personal finance teams primarily comprised of educators and volunteer personal finance professionals, such as members of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants (RISCPA).During the Spring of ’09 educators will receive training in core personal financial topics and will devise strategies for increasing student exposure to the subject matter.In the Fall of ’09, students will be engaged, including pre and post testing in order to measure effectiveness.

BACKGROUND / FUNDING (RIFI Program)
In November of 2008, the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition received notice that the Council for Economic Education approved a competitive grant application in the amount of $25,000 through the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement to implement a Teacher Training program as part of the Excellence in Economic Education Program.

A letter supporting the Coalition’s application was issued by U.S. Senator Jack Reed stating:

“The Rhode Island Youth Financial Education Expansion Program is an innovative and assertive project that will significantly increase the financial literacy of high school students through: increased capacity of educators, increased student exposure to personal financial subject matter, involvement of volunteer financial service professionals, and measurement of outcomes.”

Matching funds have been provided in Rhode Island by; Domestic Bank, The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority (RIHEAA), United Way of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA).

ABOUT THE RI JUMP$TART COALITION
Founded in May of 2004, the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition (www.rijumpstart.org) is a nonprofit corporation, affiliated with the national Jump$tart Coalition with the mission of increasing the financial literacy of youth in Rhode Island.

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