[CircleUp] U.S. Departments of Treasury and Education Update

[Vickie Oldman-John]

Dear Colleague, 

In December 2009, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education
Secretary Arne Duncan announced the National Financial Capability
Challenge.<http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm> They said that along
with getting the economy back on track and getting smarter about
financial regulation, we also need to make sure all Americans - but
especially our youth - get the financial education they need to help
them take responsibility for their financial futures. Treasury and
Education are committed to working together on this issue. The Challenge
- an awards program for educators and high schools students that aims to
encourage the teaching of personal finance - is our first step in a new
partnership. 

An earlier version of the Challenge was organized by Treasury under the
previous administration, and this expanded effort builds on that
success. 

Our goal is to get one million high school students to take the
Challenge, which includes a voluntary online exam, by April 9, 2010. To
make that happen, we'll need thousands of educators from across the
country to register and get their students prepared. Two thousand
educators have already signed up. It's a good start, but we have a long
way to go. 

We're writing to ask for your help. 

Will you please support our effort to reach out to high school teachers
- and other educators working with high school students age 13-19, such
as librarians, youth group leaders, and after-school program staff - to
encourage them to sign up for the Challenge at
challenge.treas.gov<http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm> by March 14? 

We're encouraging educators to take these steps: 

1. View the video message from Secretary
Duncan<http://challenge.treas.gov/video.aspx> 

2. Register for the
Challenge<http://challenge.treas.gov/educator_SignUp.aspx> by March 14th


3. Recruit their colleagues to participate (flier available
here)<http://challenge.treas.gov/National_Financial_Capability_Challenge
_Flier.pdf> 

4. Prepare their students (using the free educator toolkit or their own
resources) 5. Administer the online exam one day between March 15th and
April 9th 6. Present official (printable) awards certificates to
high-scoring students 

All participating educators will receive personalized awards
certificates, and educators in states with the highest participation
rates will earn special distinction. 

Please consider taking these steps as an outreach partner: 

* Send a custom message directly to educators and/or people who work
with them 

* Contact influential individuals who could help recruit educators to
participate 

* Include a link to the National Financial Capability Challenge website
on your own site<http://challenge.treas.gov/link_to_us.htm> 

* Include the Challenge in your organization's social networking
(Facebook, Twitter, etc.) 

* Talk about the Challenge during speaking engagements 

* Create additional incentives to encourage educators to participate 

* Offer instructional support to educators new to this topic (e.g.
linking them with local experts) 

  

Thank you for your support. 

  

Sincerely, 

Michelle Greene 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education and Financial Access 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

 

Matthew Yale 

Deputy Chief of Staff 

U.S. Department of Education 

  

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