It’s Tuesday, which means it must be time for another NGPF Podcast!

Thanks to Candace Fikis, recent recipient of the 3M Outstanding Economic Educator Award, for participating in a recent NGPF podcast to discuss how she brings personal finance to life for her students.

Candace Fikis’s passion for personal finance and economics becomes evident early on in this podcast. A self-professed “Econ nerd,” she clearly brings a high level of energy and engagement to the classroom. Always on the lookout for engaging projects and activities, she continues to expand her teacher network through social media and conference attendance. If you are looking to start up an after-school personal finance club, she has some great ideas on how to build a winning team. Her team won the Illinois State Championship earlier this year!

Listen to this webinar to hear Candace’s answer to questions, including:

• What do you think is best way to incorporate personal finance into your economics course?
• How do you use Twitter to continue to hone your craft?
• How do you effectively use group work to teach your students an invaluable life skill?
• What are your most popular simulations to engage your students?
• What are the secrets behind your best in state Personal Finance Challenge team?

Show notes:  Resources mentioned/used by Candace Fikis:

• National Personal Finance Challenge
• Econ Illinois
• Missouri Council for Economic Education – Personal Finance Lessons
• FRED – St Louis Fed : Economic data and graphs
• Foundation for Teaching Economics: Lessons and teacher programs

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.