Your Unique Role
Each of Jump$tart’s 51 affiliated State Coalitions is as unique as the state or region they serve; so a one-size-fits-all plan of action wouldn’t likely maximize the effectiveness of each State Coalition’s support of Project Groundswell and the Check Your School campaign. This page was developed to help you—our state coalition leaders, members, and volunteers—take part in the campaign in ways that best meet the goals of your state coalition and the circumstances of your state.
Check your school. Add your school. Create #afinlitfuture!
- To start, put your “parent hat” on and Check Your School! Whether you begin with our search tool to see what we already know –or– check at your school to ask teachers and administrators about any financial education already offered, our Parents Page will help get you started.
Grandparents, guardians, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends—almost anyone fits the “parent” role and you can define “your school” as your kids’ school, the school where you work or volunteer, the one you once attended yourself, or one in your neighborhood.
- Don’t forget: the most important part of your parent role is to help us start the conversation! After you’ve checked your school and added what you know to our database, start the conversation with teachers, administrators and others about the importance of financial literacy and the need for effective financial education. Use our Advocacy Toolkit to help you make the case.
Develop your plan
- Before you devise a plan for your State Coalition to participate in Project Groundswell and the Check Your School campaign, it’s important to survey the financial education landscape in your state. Determine whether financial education is already required in any fashion and what’s being offered. CEE’s Survey of the States and Champlain College’s National Report Card may be useful tools.
- There’s no single set of instructions for State Coalition participation in the Check Your School campaign. In some states, financial education is already a graduation requirement. In other states, there’s no requirement at all. In some states educational requirements are set at the state level and in others, at the local or district level. Jump$tart is asking each of its affiliated State Coalitions to come up with plans and strategies that best meet their own needs using this site for guidance. Most importantly, Bill Cheeks, Variny Yim, and our campaign consultants John and Megan stand ready to help you, as needed.
- Be sure that your plan includes the engagement of your members, volunteers, and other stakeholders, starting first in their parent or parent-like roles, using the Parents Page for guidance.
If you have teachers, administrators, or other educators in your membership or database, direct them to the Educators Page and encourage them not only to join in the conversation, but most importantly, take steps to introduce or augment financial education in their classrooms.
A few ideas to get you started
- Link to CheckYourSchool.org from your own website, newsletter, and other communications.
- Follow @CheckYourSchool on Twitter and Facebook to share our tweets and posts. Invite your followers to follow us. Or start a social media campaign of your own.
- Utilize community outreach initiatives to engage parents and the general public and direct them to our Advocacy Toolkit to learn ways that they can get involved themselves.
- Look for opportunities to engage local schools with presentations to PTA and similar meetings and appointment with teachers and administrators.
- Support the teachers who play pivotal roles in the implementation of new financial education and the augmentation of what’s already being taught with your own teacher conferences and professional development events. The Jump$tart Financial Foundations for Educators model may help.
Resources
Below are a few materials to help you incorporate Check Your School into your state coalition materials and activities. Please contact Megan.McDonald@Jumpstart.org for materials such as PowerPoints or graphics files.
General Check Your School text for use in websites or newsletters
Check Your School handout for general audiences
