High School Juniors and Seniors Will Work Toward the State’s Financial Literacy Standards, Thanks to Credit Unions’ Donation of Personal Finance Program

MILWAUKEE, May 10 /PRNewswire/ — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster says more than 35,000 juniors and seniors at 568 of Wisconsin’s public high schools will get a jump on learning the money skills the state says they should have before graduation thanks to Wisconsin credit unions’ donation of the brass|STUDENT PROGRAM. The program promotes responsible personal financial management through its lifestyle money magazine brass, which is produced for young adults, by young adults.


Burmaster, who announced the partnership between credit unions and public schools at the Wisconsin Credit Union League’s 73rd annual convention in Milwaukee, said the effort will put Wisconsin students a step ahead of those in other states when it comes to learning the financial basics they need to complete their educations and start their adult lives. The program will be provided free to schools starting in the 2007-2008 academic year.


“Preparing young people to understand and participate in their own financial well-being is a vital personal skill,” Burmaster told convention attendees. “The economic stability of our communities and the growth of our state’s economy will be influenced by the personal financial literacy skills our students gain in school.”


As part of the brass|STUDENT PROGRAM, Wisconsin public high schools will receive classroom sets of the brass|MAGAZINE Student Edition, a quarterly publication that focuses on the money side of life, making money relevant to students. The publication can be used on its own or in conjunction with personal finance curricula.


“Whether a school teaches financial concepts as part of a business, economics, social studies, math or other course — and regardless of what curriculum they use — brass|MAGAZINE makes those ideas real for students,” Burmaster said. “The magazine helps students see in real life the application of the concepts they’re learning.”


Teachers can also access the online brass|TEACHER RESOURCE CENTER for shared lesson plans and questioning strategies that can be used to engage students in discussion. Each lesson plan identifies which state standards — such as calculating the cost of borrowing — are being met as students complete classroom activities.


Wisconsin was the first state in the nation that developed content and performance standards for personal finance at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.


“Wisconsin has been one of the most progressive states on the issue of personal financial literacy not only by working with many organizations to establish our standards, but by tapping the ability of partners like credit unions and brass|MEDIA Inc. to engage teachers and students in meeting them,” Burmaster said.


“The brass|STUDENT PROGRAM is a great complement to the tremendous efforts being made in Wisconsin toward financial education,” said Bryan Sims, founder and CEO of brass|MEDIA Inc. “The program’s ability to inform students about money in ways that relate to them creates an amazing opportunity. I can’t think of better partners in this objective than the Wisconsin Credit Union League and credit unions across the state to help schools reach their goals for financial learning.”


Credit unions have been long-time partners with Wisconsin schools, supervising more than 60 student-run, in-school credit union branches around the state that teach the value of saving and strive to instill responsible financial habits among youth. Credit unions have also played a role in offering free to schools the High School Financial Planning Program — a seven unit curriculum covering personal finance basics, developed by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). More than 200 Wisconsin schools use it.


Besides benefiting from the magazine, Wisconsin’s high school juniors and seniors will be able to use the brass|STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER website, where students can search the magazine’s content and a database of scholarships offered by credit unions.


“Thanks to credit unions, Wisconsin schools have yet another free resource they can use in almost any setting to help students achieve our state’s financial literacy standards,” said League President & CEO Brett Thompson. He explains that the program’s moniker “brass” implies boldness as well as achievement — using financial savvy to be among the “top brass” in society. Thompson says the program recognizes young people are in a position — unlike prior generations — to make or break their financial futures and don’t want to be talked down to. The program’s content is written for young adults by young adults, which builds credibility with the intended audience — students.


“Teachers who have used the program have said they’ve struggled to find something about money that their students would find interesting,” Thompson says. “When it comes to brass, students devour it.”


Wisconsin credit unions, which are financial institutions owned by their members, are funding the program through their Pewaukee-based trade association. The partnership with Wisconsin high schools is the latest statewide component of credit unions’ REAL Solutions initiative, which extends credit union services to people in need, regardless of whether the credit union can profit by doing so.


Credit unions are funding the outreach program because they see doing so as part of their mission. The purpose of not-for-profit credit unions is to serve members, not make profits.


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Source: Wisconsin Credit Union League