January 30, 2015 at 4:37 p.m.
Rhinelander Partners in Education receives governor's 2014 Wisconsin Financial Literacy Award
Rhinelander Partners in Education receives governor's 2014 Wisconsin Financial Literacy Award
Over 35 nominations were made, with 17 individuals, businesses and organizations selected as recipients of the award. Winners were selected based on "innovative implementation, demonstrated measureable results, collaboration with partners and whether the effort was focused on needs‐based groups," the council said in a press release announcing the award winners.
"These worthy individuals and organizations are making a difference by increasing the personal financial knowledge and skills of Wisconsinites of all ages," Gov. Scott Walker said in making the announcement. "By improving their financial capabilities, our citizens can improve their quality of life and, in the process, help strengthen the Wisconsin economy."
The awards ceremony was held Wednesday in Madison. PIE representatives Leah Van Zile of Wisconsin Public Service and Robert Sjoberg of Dynamic Personalities accepted the award on behalf of the group.
Van Zile was thrilled that PIE was recognized with an award.
"It was pretty exciting and truly an honor. It was pretty unexpected," she said.
"It was quite an honor to just be nominated, and to be awarded the financial literacy award this year really was an honor," she added. "It was a great experience and truly an honor."
Two PIE events helped the group stand out this year. The Mad Money event held in March and the Mini Business World event held in October aim to teach students important financial literacy skills.
Rhinelander High School business education teacher Patrick Kubeny nominated PIE for the award. He said those two events, in addition to PIE's work with the Finance and Investment Challenge Bowl, were what drove him to submit the nomination. A little push from Richard Entenmann of the Asset Builders played a part, too.
"I formally nominated Partners in Education for the governor's financial literacy award primarily due to a recommendation to do so by Richard Entenmann of the Asset Builders. Richard asked me to nominate PIE because of their involvement with the Finance and Investment Challenge Bowl," he said.
"For the last two years, Rhinelander has been host to the Northwoods regional for the statewide event. PIE has helped out with monetary donations to bring the event here as well as helped with the event itself, with members volunteering to serve as judges, scorekeepers and quiz masters."
"PIE has also been heavily involved in the success of the Mad Money event that has taken place at Rhinelander High School the past few years, as well as with the Mini Business World experience that has been held at CAVOC (Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom) for high school students," he added.
"All three of these programs/events are financial in nature and excellent opportunities to extend the classroom learning environment in order to promote more financial literacy for our students. Without monetary assistance and countless hours of volunteering by PIE, it would not be possible to host these events right here in Rhinelander. I believe this award was created to recognize organizations like PIE for their outstanding service to promote financial literacy. They certainly deserve it."
The events have grown through the years and Van Zile said the award is evidence the goals of the events are being met.
"Since we've done Mad Money and Mini Business World the last three years we've reached over 600 students. We've had great cooperation from area businesses through those events as well, which has really given the kids a look at just how important financial literacy is in the real world," she said.
"Those events and the success of those events has encouraged the district to actually look at making financial literacy a requirement for graduation. That is something we are very proud of as we feel those skills are incredibly important for our students."
Back in May, the School District of Rhinelander Board of Education approved a proposal that requires students to take at least one financial literacy class to be eligible for graduation. The new requirement becomes effective for the class of 2017.
Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said the district takes financial literacy education very seriously. She thanked PIE for the work it does and congratulated the group on the award.
"Financial literacy is critical for everyone, including our students. As they leave high school, they need to be prepared to make good financial decisions. These decisions follow people for years and the good decisions set people up for financial success throughout their lives," she said.
"Partners in Education has taken on many huge projects to help the school district share the financial literacy message with our youth. This award is well-deserved and they and their efforts are appreciated."
PIE's work is not finished. Van Zile said the group will continue to work with the district to provide needed resources for students. Help is needed to continue the mission, though.
"We're looking to expand our membership," she said.
"We hope to keep growing our membership and keep expanding our business membership and outreach. Working with the school and our businesses is the key component in ensuring our students are getting the 21st century skills they need to be successful in their future."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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