Iowa Jump$tart Accomplishments for 2012

  • March 6, 2012:  Financial aid awareness day at DMACC Urban Campus.  Iowa Jump$tart members provided financial literacy information and Iowa Jump$tart bags.

 

  • March 21, 2012:  TS Bank Financial Fair in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Jump$tart President spoke to about 40 southwest Iowa teachers at the TS Bank Financial Fair in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Topics included MoneySmart week, our annual educator conference in July, and the Jump$tart Clearinghouse.

 

  • March 28, 2012:  April proclaimed Financial Literacy Awareness Month in Iowa.  Encouraged by Iowa Jump$tart member Iowa College Aid, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad proclaimed April as Financial Literacy Awareness Month in Iowa.  Several Jump$tart members participated in the ceremony to promote and build awareness of financial education in Iowa.

 

  • April 14, 2012:  Iowa Jump$tart receives Public Service Award from AAFCS.  Iowa Jump$tart received the 2012 Public Service Award from the Iowa Affiliate of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) at their 2012 Annual Meeting.

 

  • April 17-19, 2012:  State Coalition Leaders Meeting.  Jump$tart Vice President met with National Jump$tart officials, partners, and other state coalition leaders in Washington, DC. 
  • April 21-28, 2012:  Money Smart Week Iowa.  Iowa Jump$tart coordinated the Chicago Federal Reserve Money Smart Week in Iowa. There were 8 primary locations:  Des Moines; Cedar Rapids; Quad Cities, Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Harlan, and Creston.
    • MoneySmart Investor conference held at Drake University
    • New MoneySmart Fair held after conference
    • Coordinated 160+ partnering organizations who hosted over 150 events
    • Distributed a 12-page newspaper tab on financial topics, press run of 300,000+
    • Awarded a scholarship for the Money Smart Kid essay contest
    • Awarded a $200 prize to a 2nd grader for the poster contest
    • Extended Money Smart Week’s outreach by
      • Providing Ben Franklin costumes to communities for school visits
      • Offering a Scout night template for a fun night to earn badges
      • Providing MSW museum displays for use in libraries and lobbies
    • Created a special MoneySmart Week badge for scouts
    • Shredding
      • Events in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Creston, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Quad Cities
      • Hundreds of participants shredded 50,000 pounds.
    • Event attendance:
      • Conferences: 500
      • 6 Kickoffs: 140
      • Other events: 2500
      • 7 Scout nights:  400 Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, & Boy Scouts
      • Ben Franklin visits to schools: 8-10,000
  • June 18, 2012:  Iowa High School Participation encouraged in National Financial Capability Challenge.  Iowa Jump$tart, Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, Iowa College Access Network, and the Iowa Department of Education, partnered with Iowa Student Loan® to offer 30 prizes of $1,000 each to Iowa high schools for participating in the National Financial Capability Challenge.  To be eligible for the drawing, Iowa high schools had to have at least one student score in the top 20% nationally in the Challenge. Iowa’s participation in the Challenge increased more than 50% while national participation declined.  88 Iowa high schools participated in the Challenge compared to 57 schools in 2011.  3,849 Iowa students participated in the 2012 financial literacy contest (nearly 1,000 more than last year).
  • June 28, 2012:  Iowa Finance Alliance. Iowa J$ President and VP participated in a planning meeting for the Iowa Finance Alliance, a group hoping to enhance the financial literacy of Iowa’s veterans, service members, and the families.  Participation in meetings have continued throughout the year.  Group members include representatives from Iowa State University, the Iowa National Guard, Army OneSource,
  • July 20, 2012:  The 12th Annual Personal Financial Literacy Conference was held at DMACC in Ankeny with nearly 90.  Highlights of the 1-day conference included presentations by:
    • Adam Carroll of National Financial Educators.
    • Anne Bannister, Manager of the Jump$tart Clearinghouse.
    • Dr. Sandra Dop of the Iowa Department of Education.
    • Teachers Charlet Daft of Newton and Marcey Norland of North Kossuth CSD who reported on their attendance at the National Jump$tart Financial Literacy Conference in November of 2011 with expenses paid by the Iowa Jump$tart Coalition.
    • Mike Finley, President of the UNI Financial Literacy Club.
    • Jessica Schultz with ICAN on The Life Store Program.
    • Craig Goettsch, Director of Investor Education with the Iowa Insurance Division on THE BASICS OF SAVING AND INVESTING
    • Mary Beth Kaufman, Family Finance Program Specialist for ISU Extension and Outreach, on using NEFE’S HIGH SCHOOL FINANCIAL PLANNING PROGRAM.
    • ISU student Greg Hunt and Kris Alban, VP for iGrad, on CyGold and the College Financial Literacy Compendium.
    • Dan James, teacher at Dallas Center-Grimes spoke on the Dave Ramsey High School Curriculum.
    • Matt Brown of Iowa Student Loan who reviewed how the National Financial Capability Challenge was successfully incorporated in some Iowa schools

 

  • November 2-4, 2012:  Jump$tart National Educator’s Conference.  The Iowa Jump$tart Coalition paid all costs to send 20 Iowa teachers to the 5th Annual Jump$tart National Educator Conference in Chicago.