BaySCAN Financial Services Network -- News #15

ROBERT H. MICHEL CIVIC EDUCATION GRANTS
Teachers (4th through 12th grade), community and junior college faculty, and college and university faculty teacher-led student teams are eligible to apply for grants to develop lesson plans or student activities that incorporate historical materials about Congress and/or the federal government. Forty thousand dollars are available in 1999-2000. Emphasis is on practical classroom applications.

Get details at (http://www.pekin.net/dirksen/micheledgrants.html).

THE DEWITT WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND AND LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND
today announced they have combined resources in pursuit of a common goal: enriching community life through support of education, arts and culture.

According to M. Christine DeVita, president, under its new structure the Funds will have about $1.5 billion in total assets and will focus on:

Developing effective educational leaders to improve student learning;
Providing high-quality informal learning opportunities for children and families in communities; and
Promoting new standards of practice to increase participation in the arts.

For more information see http://www.wallacefunds.org/.

HIGH-TECH GIANTS PLEDGE MILLIONS TO TRAIN TEACHERS
Intel Corporation today announced Intel® Teach to the Future, a worldwide initiative to address the barrier teachersí face in effectively applying computer technology to improve student learning. Over the next three years, Intel will invest $100 million in cash, equipment, curriculum development and program management to train more than 400,000 classroom teachers in 20 countries around the world. The program is presented with support from Microsoft Corporation.

See http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/ed012000.htm for more information.

__1.2 Unsung Heroes Awards

Northern Life Insurance Co. and ReliaStar, large financial institutions, seek applicants for the Education's Unsung Heroes Awards. Full-time K-12 educators, paraprofessionals, and school staff who have initiated an effective teaching program are eligible. One hundred finalists win $2,000 to further their projects. Three grand-prize winners receive an additional $25,000, $10,000, or $5,000 for their projects. This seems like a natural fit for schools with financial literacy curriculum. For more information contact:

Education's Unsung Heroes Awards

c/o Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America

1505 Riverview Rd., P.O. Box 297

St. Peter, MN 56082

(507) 931-1682 or (800) 537- 4180

fax (507) 931-2109

http://www.unsungheroes.com/

2 ISSUES & BEST PRACTICES:

__2.1 Network Advisory Board

We recently held our first Advisory Board meeting on Feb. 17, 2000, hosted by Bank of America. Organizations that have committed to participating on the Board include Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Inc., Wells Fargo Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, Insurance Brokers & Agents of the West, Insurance Skills Center, and AlignMark.

The objectives of the Advisory Board are to:

Support and complement the work of Local STC Partnerships and individual schools;
Facilitate Industry/Education interactions;
Develop regional solutions to local problems; and
Support employer-to-employer support and outreach

The group is investigating two potential projects. The first is a Financial Services Conference and Career Fair. The goal of the project is to provide students and teachers with an in-depth opportunity to learn about the Financial Services industry and to provide teachers with curriculum resources. We are looking for teachers to help us design the event as well as pre and post event curriculum. If you are interested please call Wesley at 415-507-6169.

The second category is capstone projects. The general idea is to hire teachers to develop large semester-long or yearlong projects that integrate financial services and core curriculum. These same teachers would be hired to provide technical assistance to teachers that implement the project jointly as part of a region-wide project. If you are interested in participating in the early brainstorming and planning please contact Wesley at 415-507-6169.

__2.2 BaySCAN FSNet Survey

Thank you to the schools that have faxed back their Member Survey. We are beginning to develop our web profiles and you will be able to use them to find out what others are doing, share information and collaborate. If you havenít faxed yours yet, please do so soon. Click here to download a rich text formatted (rtf) version of the Survey if you need another. You can also email or phone me with a request and I will fax or mail a copy to you.

__2.3 UC A-G Course Approval for STC Classes

Roman Sterns recently provided a project overview for the "A-G Interactive Guide," a project out of the U.C. Office of the President. The goal of this project is to improve the information available to K-12 practitioners about course certification requirements and procedures, creating an electronic/automated system to disseminate design information about innovative STC courses, and improving feedback to teachers regarding proposed courses. We will be adding information about the project to our Web site in the near future.

Roman also shared information about the important, but not necessarily obvious, components of a successful A-G new course approval application. A few of the highlights follow:

Provide a Context: Often applications do not explain how a new class fits into the school/program overall plan.
Knowledge: UC is very interested in the core concepts, content, theory and literature used in the class.
Academic Rigor: What is intellectually challenging about the class?
Integrated Curriculum: Make sure to fully describe the academic content. Explain how vocational content is used as a strategy to apply the theoretical concepts in real world situations.

3 RESOURCES:

__3.1 Master Your Future

MasterCard Intíl has developed curriculum to teach financial responsibility in the 21st century. Budgeting, banking, and credit are taught in a direct and entertaining manner through the use of video, classroom discussion, in-class exercises, and student activities. The video, lesson plans, and materials are available free from Video Placement Worldwide and can be ordered online at http://www.vpw.com.

__3.2 Next Generation--Insuring Your Future

The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) has developed an award-winning, multimedia insurance education program. These materials were designed to introduce students to the basics of insurance in a straightforward yet thought-provoking manner. This curriculum includes a video, teacherís guide, handout masters, and posters. They also provide guidelines for visiting an insurance agent with helpful tips for both the teacher and the insurance agent. These materials can also be ordered from Video Placement Worldwide at http://www.vpw.com.

__3.3 The Complete Guide to Productivity

There is a great deal of interest and discussion about whether the current rate of expansion is sustainable. Traditionalists believe that inflation is inevitable. Others look at increases in productivity as the basis for sustained rapid growth without inflation. What a great real world context for studying macroeconomics! A very informative web site for gathering information on this timely topic can be found at http://stats.bls.gov/lprhome.htm.

__3.4 Achievers International School-based Entrepreneurial Program

Many schools in the Network have entrepreneurship and marketing topics included in their program. An organization in Great Britain has developed a program to help schools in different countries start import/export businesses.

Key Features include:

Open to all schools and colleges worldwide (ages 6 - 22).
Achievers International matches each member school with a foreign partner school.
Each member school is given access to the on-line training.
All schools have a group of students and a teacher who form a company (students have roles such as Marketing Director and Communication Director).
Each school communicates at least once per week with their partner using e-mail, fax and video conferencing.
Once the students have gotten to know their partners, they begin market research to identify suitable products for import.
Each school import locally manufactured goods from their partner school, thus, all schools import and export.
Each school company is responsible for selling their imports
At the end of the year, school companies can distribute their profit as they see fit.

The Achievers International program encourages practical use of IT, teamwork, and the exchange of cultural information with a partner school. Achievers International benefits students of all ages and abilities by increasing their self-confidence and developing the communication and entrepreneurial skills required to run a profitable business.

You can checkout Achievers Intíl at http://www.achieversinternational.org. (All applications must be received by 31st May 2000).

You are reading the Web archive of the BaySCAN Financial Services Network listserv ([email protected]). Questions, comments, and submissions should be directed to:

Wesley Leung, Coordinator
BaySCAN
[email protected] (email)
415-507-6169 (phone)
415-507-6339 (fax)