Press Releases

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2007	Contact: Charles Evenson 608-266-2026

Bay Port High School Receives $1,000 for Teaching Wise Money Habits Using Online Curriculum

(Madison) Bay Port High School (BPHS) has received an award of $1,000 for having the most students of any school in Wisconsin complete MoneySKILL, an innovative online financial education tutorial during the fall 2006 semester. Principal Mike Frieder and teacher Onis Budde accepted the award from Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Inc., which co-sponsored the event along with the Harley-Davidson Foundation, in a ceremony conducted during a meeting of the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy on January 18 in Madison.

Ms. Budde had 23 students complete MoneySKILL. The curriculum was created and funded by the AFSA Education Foundation. Wisconsin was chosen for MoneySKILL because of its outstanding national reputation in promoting financial literacy.

“I congratulate the teachers, students and Bay Port High School on winning this award,” said First Lady Jessica Doyle, who is the Honorary Chair of the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy. “The MoneySKILL program is a great resource that improves skills in mathematics and gives students financial skills that will last a lifetime.”

“We are delighted to be part of the effort to build financial literacy in Wisconsin,” said Kathryn Marczak, vice president, Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS). “We congratulate Bay Port High School for its top finish.” HDFS provides wholesale and retail financing and insurance programs to Harley-Davidson dealers and riders and is wholly owned by Harley-Davidson, Inc.

The need for improved financial literacy is well documented. Today, more than a third of all high school students have credit cards in their own names, wide access to Internet shopping and broad exposure to ever-increasing numbers of new financial products and services. Yet numerous studies have shown that students receive failing scores on tests of their financial knowledge. Wisconsin students scored slightly above the national average on a nationwide survey conducted earlier this year but their average score of 53.1 percent was still an “F” on any grading scale.

The National Jump$tart Coalition conducted the survey, the fifth one they have completed over the past eight years. All the surveys have recorded similar results.

MoneySKILL is free, reality-based and contains 34 “how to” modules plus two real-life simulations that show students how to make informed financial decisions. Teachers themselves may also go through the program as students to determine where they are strong in the subject matter and where additional preparation is needed. A built-in grade book electronically records each student's pre- and post-test scores, module test scores, and course grade so teachers who use MoneySKILL require little training.

Many teachers learn about MoneySKILL while attending the National Institute of Financial and Economic Literacy (NIFEL). NIFEL, produced by the Wisconsin Jump$tart Coalition, consists of three one-week graduate-level sessions, held on the campus of Edgewood College, that show educators how to teach their students about personal finance, money management and some economics.

NIFEL was recently named “a recognized best practice for teacher training” by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission of the United States Department of the Treasury. Wisconsin Jump$tart was named the 2005 State Coalition of the Year for its work in promoting financial literacy in Wisconsin and also recently won a Governor’s Financial Literacy Award.

For more information about MoneySKILL or NIFEL call Teresa Walker at: 608-267-1713 or email her at: teresa.walker@dfi.state.wi.us. Educators may sign up for MoneySKILL at: www.moneyskill.org.

From left to right: Lorrie Keating Heinemann, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Kathryn Marczak, Vice President, Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Onis Budde, Teacher, Bay Port High School, First Lady Jessica Doyle and Mike Frieder, Principal, Bay Port High School.