Supercharge Student (and Teacher) Financial Literacy With #PowerofEcon Day on April 26

Managing money can be a challenge for many adults. It’s not always easy for people to keep debt down, pay bills, and manage finances effectively. Consequently, many schools are implementing financial literacy programs. If you haven’t done this yet, or even if your school already has such a program, your teachers and classes will want to join #PowerofEcon Day on April 26. These free activities and a power-packed Twitter chat will energize and provide support for your financial literacy discussions. The Twitter chat will be live at noon Eastern Time using #PowerofEcon. To prepare, help your students create questions to pose to the featured economist. As a result of this celebration, we hope these resources will help teachers and students get excited about economics.

Celebrate the Power of Economics with the #PowerofEcon chat on April 26. Your students can ask questions of an economist and more. Use Twitter to connect to other classes tackling financial literacy education.

April is Financial Literacy Month

The power of economics is in play everywhere, and April is the month to embrace it. Think of #PowerofEcon Day for finance and economics as what Pi Day is to Math class.  This is our day to celebrate and discuss financial literacy.

On Thursday, April 26th, celebrate Financial Literacy Month by boosting your students' understanding of personal finance on #PowerOfEcon Day.  With this in mind, Econ Essentials is providing free, standards-aligned resources for your use.

Created by CME Group and Discovery Education, Econ Essentials is designed to help high school students learn economic principles through the use of real-world examples.

Join the #PowerofEcon Events on April 26

Get ready for an action-packed day of economic discussion with classrooms across the country on Twitter @DiscoveryEd with the #PowerofEcon hashtag:

• 10AM: The Power of People examines the three-part mini-documentary series from Seeker Stories. This series features people shaping the impact of economics on the world as we know it. As an illustration of the importance of financial literacy, Seeker is a global showcase of people who are making a difference in the places where they live. Teaching Tip: You’ll want to bookmark these videos and use them in your courses to make every day a #PowerOfEcon Day.
• 12PM: The Power of Possibility features an interactive live chat with CME Group’s Chief Economist, Bluford Putnam. Notably, your students can pose their economic questions for him to answer. I look forward to joining in the conversation as well. Teaching Tip: Just use the hashtag #PowerofEcon at noon ET on that day. Have your finance classes create and pose questions during this time as well.
• 2PM: The Power of Content dives into interactive learning modules on finance, fuel, and the food system. Econ Essentials has some excellent units to help students understand these concepts. Teaching Tip: If you're in a 1:1 environment, split the videos up and let students discuss, share, and compare highlights.
• 4PM: The Power of Futures takes your economic learning to the next level by exploring investment concepts. This more advanced course from Econ Essentials helps students understand investing, hedging, and speculating. It includes quizzes, a game, and some infographics for you to use and explore as you teach about investment. If you play a “stock market game” or do any other investment-related activities, this module is for you. Teaching Tip: If you've already had some investment experience, have students explore and share the infographics or check out the quizzes in your classroom.

How You Can Participate in #PowerofEcon

Using #PowerofEcon, you and your students can tweet out what you’re doing to learn about financial literacy and the power of economics. Be sure to include #giveaway for a chance to win a gift card.*

And get your finance and financial literacy classes to join the Twitter chat at noon. Even if you’re not in class, students can give you questions to ask the economist. This will be a fun, exciting opportunity for classes to connect about financial literacy and understand how Twitter chats work!

Join the Twitter chat at noon ET on April 26 and all day long for free financial literacy resources.

How Econ Essentials Can Help Your Students All Year Long

Econ Essentials has interactive learning modules that help students understand real-world economic principles in action. The videos by Seeker Stories are a fantastic tool for illustrating the principles of real-world finance. The Power of Futures will help your students understand investment. So, even though we’re sharing this content on April 26, these incredible resources are available to you all year long.

Let’s celebrate economics, finance, and investing on April 26. I’ll see you on the #PowerofEcon hashtag on April 26 and at the Twitter chat at noon that day!

Information on Bluford Putnam, the Economist in the Twitter Chat

If you want to share the bio of Bluford Putnam, the economist who is the expert for the #PowerofEcon Twitter chat, here’s the bio to share with your students.

Bluford (Blu) Putnam has served as Managing Director and Chief Economist of CME Group since May 2011. He is responsible for leading economic analysis on global financial markets by identifying emerging trends, evaluating economic factors and forecasting their impact on CME Group and the company's business strategy. He also serves as CME Group's spokesperson on global economic conditions and manages external research initiatives.

Prior to joining CME Group, Putnam gained more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry with concentrations in central banking, investment research and portfolio management. He most recently served as Managing Partner for Bayesian Edge Technology & Solutions, Ltd., a financial risk management and portfolio advisory service he founded in 2000. He also has served as President of CDC Investment Management Corporation and Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Equities and Asset Allocation at the Bankers Trust Company in New York. His background also includes economist positions with Kleinwort Benson, Ltd., Morgan Stanley & Company, Chase Manhattan Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Putnam holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Florida Presbyterian College (later renamed Eckerd College) and a Ph.D.in economics from Tulane University. He has authored five books on international finance, as well as many articles that have been published in academic journals and business publications.

Disclosures

* Recipient shall not accept this gift card if accepting such gift card is prohibited by any policies or procedures with which such recipient or recipient’s employer is required to comply.