News/Accolades, Upcoming Events

Registration is open for our Summer Conference

Visit our conference page for all the details!

The Iowa Jump$tart Coalition is excited to announce the 21st Annual Personal Finance Conference will be held on August 10th, 2023 at the DMACC Urban Campus in Des Moines, IA. We would love for you to join us for a day full of learning where you are sure to come away with education around your personal finances as well as strategies and resources that you can use with your students at the start of the school year! Keep an eye on further announcements and announcements regarding the conference and feel free to register or submit a session proposal using the links below.

Contests, News/Accolades

The 2023 Econ and Finance Challenges were a huge success!

The 2023 Personal Finance Challenge and Iowa Economics Challenge saw more than 1,000 students, teachers, and volunteers involved over the course of the 2022-2023 school year. Both events test the knowledge and skills of middle and high school students: the Personal Financial Challenge tests students on income, money management, spending, credit, saving, and investing and the Economics Challenge utilizes Quiz Bowl style exams on economic knowledge.

The Personal Finance Challenge hosted two competitions this school year. The Fall 2022 competition ran from September to December with 745 students and 12 teachers participating. The Spring 2023 competition had 637 students and 8 teachers competing from January to March. The two competitions culminated in 60 students, fifteen teams of four, competing for 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place on April 12th at Drake University and resulted in more than $2,000 in prizes to the participants.

The Economics Challenge hosts competitions in three divisions: Adam Smith for returning competitors, AP, IB, and honors students; David Ricardo for first time competitors; and Milton Friedman for middle school students (grades 6-8). This year saw 163 students and 7 teachers competing in fall and spring challenges. The final challenge brought 80 students (twenty teams of four students) to Drake University on April 19th, with winners taking home prizes totaling more than $2,000.

A great big thank you to the twenty volunteers and also to the sponsors, without whom these events would not be possible: Iowa Division of Banking, The Harkin Institute, Drake University, University of Northern Iowa, ISL Education Lending, and TS Institute.

News/Accolades

Governor Proclaims April 2023 as Financial Literacy Awareness Month

In this month of April, Iowa Jump$tart would like to encourage all Iowans to take a moment to think about how they can improve their financial capabilities.  Maybe make a goal to read a book or take a community class.  If you need guidance, Iowa Jump$tart and its many partners will gladly help you find resources to help you reach your goals.  This year we are hosting several students for the Financial Literacy Challenge and the Economics Challenge in the month of April to help promote awareness. When you look at it’s core, money is important to our survival and quality of life.  We know how difficult it can be to pay back college loans, to pay taxes, to understand insurance, or to recover from a financial loss like divorce or natural disaster.  We are all in this together.

Contests, News/Accolades

2023 Personal Finance and Economics Challenges

The Personal Finance Challenge is available to middle and high school students. The competition tests students’ knowledge on income, money management, spending, credit, saving and investing. 

The top 4 teams in each region will be invited to the State Finals on April 12, 2023. Prizes available! 

Personal Finance Challenge – https://financechallenge.unl.edu/Iowa

The Economics Challenge is an opportunity for middle and high school students to demonstrate their knowledge of economics by competing in this FREE program with other students across the state in written and “Quiz Bowl” examinations.

The top 10 high school teams in each division will be invited to participate in the State Finals on April 19, 2023. Prizes available!

Economics Challenge – https://financechallenge.unl.edu/Iowa

News/Accolades

2022 Personal Finance Challenge: Results Are In

Thanks to all who participated in the Personal Finance Challenge!! We had a great turnout with 797 students participating in the online portion. 16 Teams totaling 64 students qualified for state finals and 11 of those teams competed at state finals on April 22nd at Drake University.

  • 1st Place is Clarinda High School – CHS1
    • Teacher: Linda Vanden Bosch
    • Kalen Downey
    • Jason Wright
    • Arin Eberly
    • Lance Regehr
  • 2nd Place is North Polk High School – Comets2
    • Teacher: Danielle Wolfe
    • Ethan Stierman
    • Austin Stierman
    • Javier Franco
    • Spencer Markley
  • 2nd Place is also Waverly-Shell Rock High School
    • Teacher: Ken Borrow
    • Jacque Schneider
    • Andrew Cummer
    • Jack Renn
    • Shay Doyle

This wouldn’t be possible without our volunteers and sponsors: Iowa Insurance Division, Iowa College Access Network, Iowa Student College Aid Commission, TS Bank, TS Institute, ISL Education Lending, Teacher Wealth, Iowa Jump$tart Coalition, and Harkin Institute.

News/Accolades

2022 Econ Challenge: Results Are In

Thanks to all who participated in the Econ Challenge!! We had a great turnout with 181 students participating in the online portion and 19 teams competing in the online state finals on April 21st.

Adam Smith division was for students enrolled in any two semester econ macro and micro course sequence or any course labeled as AP, IB, honors, or differentiated. Final results are:

  • 1st Place is Iowa City West High School – Bank 182
    • Peter B.
    • Kyle C.
    • Anish L.
    • Nate W.
  • 2nd Place is Iowa City West High School – Tom Petty & The Wage Takers
    • Aidan O.
    • Khalid A.
    • Nikolas S.
    • Catherine Y.

David Ricard division was for students new to Economics. It is restricted to students enrolled in a one-semester or less high school course not labeled as AP, IB, honors, differentiated, or college level. Final results are:

  • 1st Place is Iowa City West High School – Cardinals
    • Peter A.
    • Rosemary T.
    • Jumana A.
    • Augustin H.
  • 2nd Place is Iowa City West High School – Falcons
    • Helenipa S.
    • Sila D.
    • Leo W.
News/Accolades

CBI MONEY SMART WEEK POSTER CONTEST BACK AGAIN IN 2022

Community Bankers of Iowa (CBI) is once again sponsoring the CBI Money Smart
Week Poster Contest to motivate elementary school students to learn about finances. Money Smart Week was designed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as part of a financial literacy public awareness campaign. Events were cancelled in 2020 and held virtually in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Money Smart
Week has returned for 2022 once again in an all-virtual format, CBI’s annual Poster Contest is one of the few hands-on activities still being featured in Iowa during Virtual Money Smart Week this year.

To enter the Poster Contest, elementary students in 2nd through 6th grades can submit poster designs to participating community banks in Iowa, with imagery answering the question: “Why is it important to know about money?”. For showing Iowa’s community bankers what they know, students have the chance to win either a $600 Certificate of Deposit (1st Prize), or a $300 Certificate of Deposit (2nd & 3rd Prizes).

Participating elementary students should submit their poster designs to participating community bank branches throughout Iowa by April 8, 2022. Posters will be displayed in the banks throughout Virtual Money Smart Week (April 9-16, 2022). Contest winners will be chosen and notified by May 4, 2022, and announced to the public by May 6. Complete rules & submission guidelines are available at www.cbiaonline.org. Contact the CBI office at 515-453-1495 or klee@cbiaonline.org for assistance in locating a participating community bank near you.

Throughout Virtual Money Smart Week, participating community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations, and financial experts will host free educational events to help Iowans of all ages learn to better manage their personal finances. More information about Virtual Money Smart Week – including a full calendar of events – is available at www.moneysmartweek.org.

News/Accolades

2022 Iowa Economics Challenge

This challenge is an opportunity for middle and high school students to demonstrate their knowledge of economics by competing in this FREE program with other students across the state in written and “Quiz Bowl” examinations.

Students in Iowa begin the challenge by participating in a preliminary first round of the Challenge online.

In the first round, each team of 3-4 students in three divisions will complete online exams covering topics in macro, micro and international economics. 

The top 10 high school teams in each division will be invited to participate in the State Finals on April 21, 2022. Prizes available!

REGISTER NOW – https://econchallenge.unl.edu/Iowa/Welcome

News/Accolades

Iowa Insurance Division Announces Participation in the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee to Support Youth Financial Education

The Iowa Insurance Division is sponsoring the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee, taking place April 1-15, 2021. The EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee is a nationwide financial literacy challenge for high school students.

The EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee provides an opportunity for students to learn the critical importance of saving and budgeting for short-term and long-term financial goals.

The virtual challenge, created by EVERFI, and supported by leading financial institutions nationwide, features four short digital lessons followed by a capstone essay contest in which students share a short-term or long-term savings goal and outline their plan to achieve that goal.  Winners of the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee will receive a total of $20,000 in college scholarships.  In addition, the top three essays from students in Iowa will be awarded visa e-gift cards of $200, $100 and $50 respectively to help them reach the savings goal they wrote about in the essay.

To learn more about the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee, visit https://iid-iowa.everfi-next.net/welcome/national-financial-bee-2021.