A little more than 11 years ago, Tim Ranzetta, whom I had never met, convinced me in a single phone call that personal financial education should become my next career. My first three thoughts were:
- Full agreement with Tim’s idea that all children earn personal financial education
- Sorry that in my ten years I had never recorded personal financial lessons as a high school and director teacher
- A passion to get started right away
And now I leave a job that has been enormously rewarding, intense, a real love work, one -off lifetime, a huge learning curve and impactful at national level. When we started NGPF, only five states guaranteed that every high school graduate would learn personal finances, and now we are 29.
Where do I, Jessica, go professionally from here? I don’t know for sure – I’m going to figure it out after I have relaxed on my couch for a few weeks.
Where should I, Jessica, hope that personal financial education will go from here? That’s easy …
- By 2030, all 50 states guarantee a personal Personal Finance course for all high school students.
- Personal financial courses remain the rewarding, enriching, joy -filled learning opportunities that NGPF has worked so hard to make them. Students must know that financial decision -making is nuanced and messy and that is OK. I never want to see that this content is lowered to click-by-Naaleving modules or standardized tests with high bets.
- Teachers feel 100% confident teaching of personal financial content. NGPF will continue to offer professional development of the highest quality, but I hope that there are also more education schools going on. What if every teachers preparation program would contain the option to specialize in personal finances?
- For me it has always been and will always be employed by students. Every teenager comes to a personal financial classroom that feels accessible, welcome and honest. They learn from passionate, dedicated teachers, and they experience thoughtful lessons that challenge and expand their thinking. Students become fluent enough in personal finances that they feel good in banking and investment spaces, and they are comfortable to ask questions and generate discussion without being ashamed.
To be honest, I also hope that the larger educational space will notify what NGPF creates and leans at the expertise of NGPF, so that more courses and content areas can also offer a revolution on teaching and learning for all students. Imagine that!
Enormous gratitude from me to Tim; To all the past and present NGPF team members who have made me a better leader; And the 125,000+ teachers who have familiarized NGPF in recent decade and who do the hard work to improve the financial life of the next generation.
With ambitious hope for all of you,
Jessica
#Farewell #NGPF #Friends #Blog