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Student Strategies

​Student Strategies is one of seven cultivation communities targeted by Kentucky State Treasurer Mark Metcalf through the Financial Empowerment Coalition and Database. The following resources have been gathered from non-profit, business, and government entities focused on assisting teachers and students in improving financial literacy. 

Community Resources

Budgeting 101
This online course from Econ Lowdown focuses on budgeting. With this resource, students are given the hands-on opportunity to create budgets for a fictional college sophomore, and, later, a recent graduate with an apartment and a new car. It also provides a budgeting tool for students to make their own budget. 

CashCourse
The National Endowment for Financial Education's CashCourse provides free online education courses through instructor assignments or self-study. It has customizable financial tools such as worksheets, a Budget Wizard, quizzes, and calculators. 

Cards, Cars, and Currency
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's Cards, Cars, and Currency is a set of personal finance programs that encourages participants to learn about three areas of personal finance: credit cards, debit cards, and purchasing a car. 

Credit Cred
This Econ Lowdown resource helps students learn about different types of credit and the costs associated with using credit. It details many important aspects of credit such as the importance of borrowing wisely and paying promptly, how to arrange credit for making major purchases, and more. It also has information about credit reports and credit scores. 

Curriculum Unit: It's Your Paycheck!
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a curriculum unit on pay for high school personal finance classes. 

Curriculum Unit: Making Personal Finance Decisions
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a curriculum unit that teaches valuable personal finance lessons grounded in economic theory.

DFI Teacher Resources
The Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) provides offers free curriculum and resource materials for Kentucky educators. These resources are user-friendly for integration into business, math, or family/consumer science classes. DFI also provides classroom speakers on financial topics for any age or grade. 

EconEdLink
This site contains online, standards-based lesson plans for K-12 teachers including frequently updated Featured Lessons, Teaching the News, Interactive Tools, and Professional Development for teachers along with search capabilities and data/web links. 

Econ Ed at the St. Louis Fed
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides print resources, K-12 lesson plans, SMART and Promethean Board lessons, PowerPoint slide decks, and more for free. 

Econ Lowdown
Free online courses, videos, and more for use in K-12 classrooms. Topics covered include decision making, earning income, paying taxes, budgeting, credit, banking, financial services, insurance, and more. 

Exploring College and Careers
This resource from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas allows students to examine various careers and education requirements, evaluate different education opportunities, identify ways to enhance their applications, research the cost of postsecondary education, explore types of financial aid, and more. 

Federal Reserve Education
The Federal Reserve Bank provides free, quality resources from the various Fed branches. Teachers can order classroom sets for free, and searches can be done by either title, keyword, education level, media, or national standard. 

Financial Literacy Resources
The National Credit Union Administration provides financial literacy and education resources to help consumers build savings and achieve their financial dreams. The site contains financial literacy and education resources. 

Financial Literacy Resource Center
The National Youth Involvement Board's Financial Literacy Resource Center site contains resources and programs that promote financial literacy amongst America's youth. 

FinEdLink
If you work with youth (grade Kindergarten to young adults) and are interested in having a banker-led financial education presentation, this program from the American Bankers Association Foundation is for you. 

It's Your Paycheck Online Course
This resource from the Federal Bank of St. Louis allows participants to play "Beat the Financial Expert!," a game that illustrates positive and negative spending behaviors. Students then analyze "Beat the Financial Expert" results, identify effective and ineffective budgeting behaviors, and create a budget from a transaction history. 

JA Inspire
Junior Achievement's JA Inspire Event for 8th and 9th grade students is a mega-career exploration fair held in October at the Kentucky Exposition Center and features videos of business people discussing what employers look for in an employee. 

JA My Way
Junior Achievement's JA My Way has resources for students to get tips and tools to help as they seek information about career paths, explore budgeting, start their own businesses, and more. It includes a personality quiz to find job matches. 

Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana
Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana's website has information about financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs in addition to volunteering and donating. 

KidsEcon Posters
KidsEcon Posters (KEP) materials and website are intended to provide teachers with tools they need to help their students understand the exciting economic world around them. The KEP website also features a literature connection that lists popular children's books that reinforce the economic concepts featured in these materials. 

Lesson: A Chair for My Mother
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson and other resources on earning income to go along with the book A Chair for My Mother. The lesson is for grades 1-3. 

Lesson: Beatrice's Goat
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson and other resources on saving money to go along with the book Beatrice's Goat. The lesson is for grades 3-5. 

Lesson: Financial Investment-Diversification and Risk
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan for high school students on diversification and risk. 

Lesson: Glo Goes Shopping
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan and other resources on decision making to go along with the book Glo Goes Shopping. The lesson is for grades K-3. 

Lesson: Just Saving My Money
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan and other resources on baking services to go along with the book Just Saving My Money. The lesson is for grades Pre-K-1. 

Lesson: Less than Zero
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan and other resources on saving to go along with the book Less Than Zero. The lesson is for grades 2-3. 

Lesson: So Few of Me
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan and other resources on decision making to go along with the book So Few of Me. The lesson is for grades 1-3. 

Lesson: Uncle Jed's Barbershop
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a lesson plan and other resources on saving to go along with the book Uncle Jed's Barbershop. The lesson is for grades 3-5. 

The Mint
An integrated website designed for middle school and high school students, teachers, and parents that includes opportunities to learning about starting a business, government spending, and much more. It includes student activities and lesson plans for teachers. 

Money Savvy Generation
Money Savvy Generation develops innovative products to help parents, educators, and others teach kids the skills of basic personal finance. 

National Standards for Financial Literacy
The National Standards for Financial Literacy provide a framework for teaching personal finance to K-12 students. Areas of teaching include earning income, buying goods and services, using credit, saving, financial investing, and more. 

NextGen Personal Finance
NextGen Personal Finance offers a free online curriculum of over 65 complete lessons and over 200 stand-alone activities accessible from anywhere. 

Northern Kentucky University's Financial Literacy Micro-Credential
NKU's Center for Economic Education has created a Micro-Credential to address HB132 passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2018. It will provide educators with content and methods to teach economics and personal finance to K-12 students. 

Page One Economics: Financing Public Projects with Stocks and Bonds
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis publishes "Focus on Finance" four times per year. Each issue is focused on a different personal finance topic. 

Page One Economics: Income Tax-Facts and Filings
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis publishes "Focus on Finance" four times per year. Each issue is focused on a different personal finance topic. 

Page One Economics: Insurance-Managing Risk
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis publishes "Focus on Finance" four times per year. Each issue is focused on a different personal finance topic. 

Page One Economics: Stock Market Strategies-Are you an Active or Passive Investor
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis publishes "Focus on Finance" four times per year. Each issue is focused on a different personal finance topic. 

Parent Resources
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides resources for parents to use to talk with their children about finances. Parents can read a children's book and use the provided questions and answers to talk with their children about basic personal finance found in the books. 

Teacher Online Resource Center
The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are working together to make it easier for schools to bring financial education into the classroom by compiling financial education tools such as lesson plans, videos, and other resources for educators. 

Time Value of Money
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides an online course about present and future value that also serves as a tutorial for students who struggle with the concepts. 

Video Series: No-Frills Money Skills
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides a video series covering a variety of personal finance topics including compound interest, stocks, bonds, insurance, and more. 

Youth Banking Resource Center
The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) is sharing resources to encourage banks and schools to work together to improve the financial skills and experiences of youth.


Financial Empowerment Coalition Contacts

Kim Dolan, Outreach Director
Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority
kdolan@kheaa.com


Kayla Godbey, Family and Consumer Sciences Program Consultant
Kentucky Department of Education
kayla.godbey@education.ky.gov


Dr. Cynthia Harter, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of EKU Center for Economic Education
Eastern Kentucky University
cynthia.harter@eku.edu


Jennifer Harris, Vice President of Programs
Junior Achievement Of Kentuckiana
jharris@jaky.org


Betty J. Montgomery, Business and Marketing Program Consultant
Kentucky Department of Education
betty.montgomery@education.ky.gov


Lee Nimocks, Vice President for Policy, Planning, and External Relations
Council on Postsecondary Education
lee.nimocks@ky.gov


Laura Parrish, Vice President of Association Services
Kentucky Credit Union League
lparrish@kycul.org


Dr. Gary Stratton, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance
Kentucky State University
gary.stratton@kysu.edu


Mary Ann Vimont , Associate Professor, College of Education
University of Kentucky
mary.vimont@uky.edu


Dr. Erin Yetter, Senior Economic Education Specialist
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis-Louisville Branch
erin.a.yetter@stls.frb.org
502-568-9257
502-568-9247