• Illinois Financial Literacy Standards Take Effect (Peoria Public Radio)

Illinois schools will be required to teach financial literacy skills such as balancing a checkbook and putting money into a savings account this school year. The Illinois State Board of Education adopted revised social science standards in 2015.

• Catoosa County developing career academy to prepare students for jobs (Times Free Press)

Catoosa County education officials are developing a new, specialized high school, centered on training students to work for local companies. If created, the Catoosa County College and Career Academy would lean on a board of business leaders, giving input on how to prepare students for jobs in the region. Teachers would work with students in typical classrooms with desks and whiteboards for part of the day, but at other times the students would operate in labs that look like workplaces.

• Columbiana students use t-shirt project as business opportunity (WYTV)

Incorporating business with creativity is happening inside a classroom at Columbiana High School. Students taking business, entrepreneurship and graphic design classes are combining their ideas to create t-shirts and then selling them to classmates. The class is a mix of students from 9^th through 12^th grade. The students come up with ideas for the t-shirts, create the graphics on a computer, print out the design and affix it to the shirts using a t-shirt press.

• In Vermont, students are ditching classrooms for jobs (Burlington Free Press)

At 8:00 on a chilly spring morning in this rural Vermont town, while most kids his age are filing into classrooms and preparing for a day of school, 17-year-old Silas Woods rolls up the sleeves of his plaid button-down shirt and hoists a tire up to a mini Cooper, suspended a few feet above ground in the corner of the noisy Duxbury Auto Shop.

About the Author

Laura Matchett

After graduating with an education degree and spending 7 years in an elementary classroom, Laura made the switch to the non-profit world and loves interacting with students, educators and business professionals across the country. She is passionate about all students having access to high quality education and views personal finance education as one way to ‘level the playing field’. When Laura is not locating or creating high quality educational resources, you can find her mountain biking or searching for the best ramen in town!