Happy Financial Literacy Month

April 2021 - Newsletter

Michigan Jump$tart Coalition wants to take time this month to thank our community during Financial Literacy Month. We know it has been a challenging school year with so many unknowns being virtual, in-person, or a blend of the two.

We know that many of your are feeling the fatigue of being online or being in another Zoom meeting. We are right there with all of you as we have been navigating the pandemic.

We are working to find ways to safely connect with you as we move forward that is not 100% virtual. Below you will find resources that can help you and your students in and out of the classroom build more confidence with your own money story.

We have been hearing from many of you and a topic of discussion has been "Paying for College." We have created some resources below to help answer some of those questions that focus on scholarships. Note that Michigan Jump$tart Coalition's own annual student scholarship application portal will launch on April 15th! See associated section below.

Again, thank you for being part of our community. We hope all of you have a wonderful month ahead.

Professional Development Opportunities

We are building a Calendar of professional development opportunities and other events. Please let us know if you have information to add. Below you will find several opportunities throughout the month of April.

We wanted to highlight a FinLit Conference that Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is putting on April 24, 2021 and starts at 10AM EST. The conference is free and open to all. It will consist of 18 virtual sessions. You can find a listing of each of the sessions here that you can register. You can decide on those topics that interest you the most and each is an hour in length.

Below are a list of different virtual professional development opportunities offered by different organizations during Financial Literacy Month.

MI Financial Wellness

Partner Spotlight

FoolProof Foundation is dedicated to reducing cycles of inequality through financial literacy. They offer free, independent, online curricula that instills lifelong habits to help learners of all ages make better financial decisions.

They have launched a free game called "The NeighborMood." This is a life and money simulation game that helps teach kids consumer life skills.

The game is live on Apple and Google Play Stores. It also works on Chromebooks.

Experts & Players LOVE This Ethical Game | NeighborMood™

Paying for College

We know that paying for college is the big questions most parents and students. A lot of factors can play a role in determining the amount of financial aid you qualify to receive as you review the college offers for that first semester of college.

We wanted to take time this month to share resources that could be helpful in finding free money to pay for college through scholarships.

Creating a system can help save time when doing the research for opportunities along with building that essay that can make your application standout from the others. We wanted to share two resources that can help in terms of creating that process

The Scholarship System. This is a blog that has free resources on best practices of searching and applying for scholarships. If you find the resources helpful, you can learn more about the scholarship course they offer that can walk you through the system the founder used to pay for her college without student loans.

MI Student Aid - They have created a database of scholarships that sort by each County in the State of Michigan. You can learn more about the TIP Scholarship and if you qualify.

FAFSA - There's money out there to help you pay for college. Michigan has extended its priority deadline for FAFSA completion to May 1st, so you're still eligible for state and federal financial aid. Make sure to complete your application. You can contact your school counselor or college advisor with your questions by using #SpringIntoCollege.

Student Scholarship Opportunity

The Michigan Jump$tart Coalition's 2021 student scholarship application portal will launch on April 15, 2021! Please bookmark and/or share the link.

We Want to Hear From YOU

Michigan Jump$tart Board Members are reaching out to all our partners to learn more about your involvement and what is most important to you! So far we are hearing a lot of great feedback about collaboration and inspiring young people to be financially successful adults. We want to hear from you! Email info.mijumpstart@gmail.com to set up a call today!

Do you have a topic, article, or professional development opportunity that might be of interest for our partners? Please share with us for consideration in a future newsletter! Email us at info.mijumpstart@gmail.com

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