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August 2010 IPT Grant Highlight

“Iowa Learn to Teach Investing Program”

Partnering with the Iowa securities regulators and Investor Protection Trust, Drake University Extension offered the class, "How to Teach Investing," for teachers. The one-credit class included four required sessions and is in progress. Teachers received the IPT's guide "The Basics of Saving and Investing" plus additional materials. Forty-five teachers signed up prior to the first session. While a majority teach 9th-12th grades, there are some middle school teachers taking the class as well.

Since teachers from all across the state are participating, two of the class sessions are via the Iowa Public Television/Iowa Communications Network (April 29 and May 6). Twenty teachers have completed the ICN sessions. Many have commented about how the sessions will be used personally as well as in the classroom. "The class is very helpful in broadening my understanding of investments. The vocab is the best!" said one Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.

The classes have spawned great discussions as attendees participated in various activities they could replicate in a classroom and were excited about their newly found investment knowledge. Teachers did some role playing, set short- and long-term goals, picked stocks, and took quizzes on risk tolerance. We also had several "Money Smart Moments" where we introduced vocabulary words for investing.

The participants' assignments include:

  • Selecting and studying a stock (picks include blue chips such as Walmart, Merck P&G, PepsiCo, and GE as well as others like National Bank of Greece, Netflix, Amedisys and Whole Foods. The written reports should be interesting—due May 13.)
  • Writing summaries of presentations by four experts (Some got very creative; one teacher presented her review as a brochure she could use with her students, for example.)
  • Completing an investing lesson prototype for use in their classrooms this fall. This final class session will consist of the teachers presenting on June 15, so everyone can see the classroom projects in action. We expect this will be quite creative.

Overall…highly positive comments. The attendees appreciated the content level and organization of the class, the hands-on activities they could re-use, the vocabulary, and not having to travel far to attend class. The goal for the class was to help each educator become more comfortable with teaching about investing and more adept at handling their own portfolios. We expect teachers will want it to be offered again.

For more information, contact Cheri Meyer at