Shifting Learning Modules For The 'New Normal'

With the recent schools closures due to COVID-19, Youthentity has had to re-evaluate the facilitation of our youth financial literacy and career development programs. Our Career Academy Program Director Peter Barclay and Financial Literacy Program Director Stephanie Stahle are re-working how our educational programs will exist in an online-only setting. Though we are obviously disappointed in the disruption of learning for our students, we see this as a great opportunity to build a resource library that will allow us to increase our range of outreach. We are as committed as ever to upholding our mission to deliver financial literacy and career development opportunities to youth in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.

From Youthentity’s Financial Literacy Program Director, Stephanie Stahle:
Over the last two semesters, we’ve rolled out new curriculums for both Level 1 and Level 2 of the I Am Financial Knowledge program . With schools now out of session, we’ve found it necessary to get creative in how students can still participate in the program. So that students can complete the program from home, we are reconfiguring financial literacy workbooks for Google Slides and adding interactive features, including digital flashcards, online quizzes, drag and drop activities, and the ability to type into workbook pages. Youthentity financial literacy facilitators will share the workbook along, with pretests and posttests, with teachers so learning can be managed at a similar pace to our typical classroom lessons. Students will continue to be incentivized with cash award checks of up to $15. This enables us to retain many of our students who were scheduled for classroom workshops in April and May, which are typically our busiest months of the academic year.

From our Career Academy Director, Peter Barclay:

Youthentity’s Career Academy programming will continue to offer learning experiences to our students. Youthentity uses an online management learning system, and through this system, we can deliver lessons and activities for our students to complete in a remote and virtual setting. We know that our students will have varied schedules, commitments, and responsibilities; taking this into consideration, lessons will be delivered asynchronously, and students will be able to access and complete lessons at their own pace and during a time that works for them. Our staff are creating content for the students and will be available during office hours to help students with any questions they may have. We are also working on ways in which we can provide the hands-on learning experiences that we know are very important to our programming.

Though our current Career Academy classes are moving to a virtual platform, registration for next academic year is still open. Please visit our Career Academy FAQ page, or speak with your academic advisor to see if you are eligible to register for the Fall 2020 Career Academy & YE University program. 

Junior Career Academy (formerly My Career, My Life) aims to provide a library of short videos in which our Career Coaches provide information on their individual fields - certifications needed, responsibilities of the job, expected incomes - and a visual demonstration of a common project or task for that industry or job.

Now more than ever, it is critical to help our community's kids understand how financial concepts and career choices will shape their lives now through adulthood. We are grateful for our supporters who also recognize the importance of educating our youth so that they may be grow to be resilient and prepared adults.