VT Financial Literacy Summer Institute Applications Available

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Summer Institute postcard.

The Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College is pleased to announce that the Vermont Teachers Financial Literacy Summer Institute has been chosen by a national steering committee of personal finance experts to participate in a new curriculum pilot program. The five-day professional development opportunity in August is designed to help Vermont middle school and high school teachers gain competencies in teaching personal finance topics, such as credit, budgeting and investing.Vermont is the third state to be chosen to participate in this pilot program; initially launched in Illinois with Chicago Public Schools followed by a round with Colorado teachers.

The Summer Institute will be using a high quality curriculum consolidating the best in financial literacy education as compiled by this committee, made up of senior representation from the Jump$tart Coalition, the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), the Council for Economic Education (CEE), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE), Junior Achievement, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

"We are extremely proud to be a part of the group that is bringing this teacher-training program to Vermont," says Ted Beck, president and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education. "Teachers all across the country have expressed a desire to usher money management topics into their classrooms. The event this summer will provide an opportunity to dramatically affect the quality of K-12 financial education by preparing Vermont teachers with the subject matter expertise they need."

The Champlain College Center for Financial Literacy will accept applications for the Aug. 1-5 program through May 6, 2011. Tuition is $1,200, with complimentary room and board available based on need (commuting distances in excess of 40 miles). Scholarships are available through a grant from the Summer Institute's sponsor Merchants Bank and Merchants Bank Foundation. Space is limited and accepted teachers will be notified no later than May 27, with others being placed on a waiting list for 2012. For information on applying, email cfl@champlain.edu or call (802) 860-2744.

Merchants Bank has extended a $125,000 grant to fund the institute over three years with the aim of preparing secondary school educators to teach students how to budget, handle credit cards, plan for the future, and understand retirement before they graduate from high school. Participants at the summer program will earn three continuing education graduate credits and receive a collegiate level personal finance textbook.

Thomas S. Leavitt, executive vice president for Merchants Bank in Burlington, said the program is designed to enable more than 100 secondary and high school teachers from at least 75 percent of Vermont Supervisory Unions. "Merchants Bank is pleased to be in a position to help Vermonters tackle a subject that is vital to personal independence," added Leavitt. The funding will cover three summer institutes to be held at Champlain College through 2013.

John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, said the partnership with Merchants Bank is a key element in the College's overall initiative designed to promote financial literacy skills to students, teachers and adults on a local, state and national level.

"The teaching of personal finance is often an afterthought in schools because it is not a subject tested under the No Child Left Behind law. However, according to Jump$tart -- a Washington D.C.-based coalition of organizations interested in advancing financial literacy among students in pre-kindergarten through college -- high school seniors, on average, answered only 48 percent of personal finance questions correctly. Most high school and middle school students in Vermont are not financially literate and are rarely being taught key personal finance topics in the classroom. We hope the work of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College and the Summer Institute sponsored by Merchants Bank will help change all that," Pelletier explained.

Topics covered will include: financial responsibility and decision making; income and careers; planning and money management; credit and debt; risk management and insurance; savings and investing; and curriculum tools that can be used in the classroom, including games to promote financial literacy.

During the 45-hour program, teachers will develop knowledge of financial literacy topics through interactive and collaborative training, exercises and group projects; use information on free curriculum available for high school and middle school students on personal finance and learn how to access the materials; discuss classroom strategies to create a vital, engaging and fun learning atmosphere; and create a detailed plan for bringing personal finance training into the classroom in the next year.

Teachers in the program will be asked to participate in pre- and post-testing of themselves and their students on financial literacy topics and will be encouraged to have their students participate in the annual National Financial Literacy Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Education. Teachers who graduate from the program also will be asked to share best practices with the Center for Financial Literacy and their fellow teachers around the state.

"Teachers who complete the training will have the confidence, skills and curriculum tools to successfully train their students in handling their money wisely," said Pelletier.

For more information about the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College and the Vermont Teachers Financial Literacy Summer Institute, email cfl@champlain.edu, call (802) 860-2744 or visit www.champlain.edu.

ABOUT MERCHANTS BANK

Merchants Bank is Vermont's only independent statewide community bank. Its continuing mission is to provide Vermonters with a statewide community bank that combines a strong technology platform with a genuine appreciation for local markets. Merchants Bank delivers this commitment through a branch-based system that includes: 34 community bank offices and 42 ATMs throughout Vermont; local branch presidents and personal bankers dedicated to high-quality customer service. It employs approximately 300 full-time employees and 40 part-time employees. Merchants Bank was organized in 1849, and took a national charter in 1865, becoming The Merchants National Bank of Burlington, Vermont. The present name was adopted on September 6, 1974, when the Bank converted from a national bank to a state-chartered bank. Merchants' stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market system under the symbol MBVT.

ABOUT CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers study abroad programs in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. The College was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges. It is also ranked in the top tier of 2011 Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more about Champlain College, www.champlain.edu

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR FINANCIAL EDUCATION® (NEFE®)

NEFE is an independent nonprofit organization committed to educating Americans about personal finance and empowering them to make positive and sound decisions to reach financial goals. For more information, visit www.nefe.org.