As we close the book on another school year, we wanted to recognize educators who committed to their own professional development through their participation in Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) webinars. Announcing our first NGPF “Webby” awards for those educators who participated in the most NGPF webinars over the past school year (Thanks to Sid Sharma, NGPF intern for this analysis). Each of the educators recognized below will be receiving a $100 Amazon gift card. And the envelope please…the NGPF “Webby” Award winners for the 2016-17 school year, with number of webinars attended in parentheses and quotes provided too:

1. Barbara O’Neill  (8) of Rutgers Cooperative Extension (New Brunswick, NJ)

2. Kathleen Brennan (7) of  Mount Saint Mary Academy (Watchung, NJ)

3. MaryAnne Bugbee (6) of Mount Markham High School (West Winfield, NY)

4. Joey Running (6) of West Albany High School (Albany, OR)

5. Jodie Holmquist (5) of Hinsdale Middle High School (Hinsdale, NH)

6. Jeffrey Snyder (5) of Wayne Valley High School (Wayne, NJ)

7. Dave Johnson (5) of Point Pleasant Borough High School (Point Pleasant, NJ)

We asked the winners what value they get from NGPF Webinars. Here’s what they told us:

• Barbara O’Neill: “NGPF webinars provide me with ideas and resources to use in my Cooperative Extension programs and Personal Finance class at Rutgers University and for Financial Education Boot Camp conferences and lesson plans that I write for New Jersey teachers. Keep them coming!”
• Kathleen Brennan: ” I love the NexGen Webinars!!  The best part is that they have targeted content that I can implement in my classes without having to travel to a professional development workshop.   I’ve participated in the webinars at the end of my school day, and without a doubt, the 60 minutes is time well spent.  Best of all, I’m able to access the archived versions just in case I need to refresh my memory on the webinars’ content.  It goes without saying that  I’m eagerly awaiting the roll out of the NGPF Semester Course and participating in the 2017-2018 webinar series!”
• Joey Running: “Team NGPF goes out of their way to reach out and request webinar topics needed to be addressed by educators.  There are times I have suggestions, but most often I didn’t know I “needed to know” the topic being discussed until after participating in the webinar.  The session on investing in thirty minutes…Completely packed with need-to know info all ready to go for my classroom at the click if a button.  New Technology… Next Gen has you covered!  It is difficult at times to stay ahead of your students when it comes to what’s hot on the tech front…NGPF does the leg work for me; I simply need to choose what works best for my students.”

NGPF’s FREE webinars occur monthly, are focused on topics that teachers care about and have two viewing options: live or through archived version on our website. Over 200 teachers attended at least one of these NGPF webinars in the 2016-17 school year.  Go to our Virtual PD page and access any of our Virtual PDs there. Past webinars include:

• August, 2016: Using the New Gooru to Access Next Gen Personal Finance
• September, 2016: Teach Insurance Through  Student Centered Projects and Activities
• October, 2016: Teaching Credit Scores Can Be Fun!
• November, 2016: Noteworthy NGPF Resources
• December, 2016: What’s Trending In Personal Finance?
• January, 2017: Getting Started on Gooru
• February, 2017: Teach Investing in Two Hours
• March, 2017: Integrate Spreadsheets Into Your Personal Finance Class
• April, 2017: A First Look at NGPF’s One Semester Course
• May, 2017: Tech Tools We Love

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Get a head start on next school year by participating in NGPF webinars this summer. Here’s what’s coming later this summer:

• July 20th: What’s Trending in Personal Finance Now?
• July 25th: Using Google Docs to Teach NGPF Content
• July 27th: Using Gooru to Teach NGPF Content
• August 3rd: An Update on NGPF’s One Semester Course

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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