St. Louis Fed Receives 2015 Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Award

The Institute for Financial Literacy recently honored the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as its nonprofit organization of the year. The Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Awards are given annually to recognize leaders in the field of financial literacy education.

“We are thrilled that the Bank has been recognized for its commitment to financial education and the quality of the curricular materials and programming that it provides in its District and across the country,” said Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and education officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Fed’s Econ Lowdown offers free classroom resources for K-16 educators to assist in teaching about economics, personal finance, money and banking, and the Federal Reserve. These economic and financial education resources reach about 400,000 students across the country each year. Similar free resources are available for parents and the public at large, and the St. Louis Fed offers free opportunities for teacher professional development and continuing education credit. There is no cost to access these resources at stlouisfed.org/education.

In addition, the Inside the Economy™ Museum opened last year inside the historic St. Louis Fed headquarters in downtown St. Louis. It offers students, families and other visitors the opportunity to learn about how the financial decisions they make influence the larger economy. The museum is free and open to the public 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, excluding holidays.

“The Federal Reserve’s resources have really helped so many instructors teaching economic and personal finance concepts,” said Judith Girard, a business teacher at Lindbergh High School. “They have done such an outstanding job and continue to be innovative.”

Rodney Gerdes teaches micro- and macroeconomics, in addition to other social studies courses, at Oakville High School. For years he has been using Fed materials, like podcasts, videos, newsletters and other online activities, to help his students prepare for AP exams. Econ Lowdown “is a resource that a lot of teachers don’t realize they could use more of; more teachers need to consider using their materials as they are of a first-rate quality” he said. “I’ve been spreading the word at different conferences.”

Vicki Fuhrhop, a business teacher at Collinsville High School, said she is not surprised the St. Louis Fed was honored with the EIFLE award. “I think how the St. Louis Fed integrates technology is fabulous, especially now in the 21st century and these are skills that these students need,” she said. “A lot of time as a teacher, there are resources out there, but it takes time to use them. The Econ Lowdown tools online are easy to use, up to date and interactive.”

Other schools in the greater St. Louis area that use the St. Louis Fed’s economic education resources include: Cor Jesu Academy; Gateway STEM High School; Grand Center Arts Academy; Kennard Classical Junior Academy; Lutheran North High School; Metro Academic and Classical High School; Rockwood Summit High School; St. John Vianney High School; St. Louis Language Immersion Schools; University City Gifted and Talented Education (GATE); and Ursuline Academy.

The St. Louis Fed was presented with the nonprofit organization of the year award on April 1 at the annual conference on Financial Education in San Antonio, Texas. Read more about the award and browse some of the outstanding Econ Lowdown videos, podcasts and curriculum for all ages produced by our Economic Education team.