Twitter
Facebook
Del.icio.us
Digg This
Reddit
Furl
Yahoo! My WebAdvisory Council
The Educators Advisory Council is a talented and diverse group of leading educators at the forefront of promoting financial literacy. The Council advises Visa on the content and direction for the Practical Money Skills for Life program.
Young Chalker
Teacher, New York, New York
"As the daughter of an emigrant family, I was raised with an emphasis on education but always aware of the need to manage our family's finances. Practical Money Skills for Life provides a complete package for both children and parents to understand, manage and plan for their future."
As a mother of two young children, Young Lee Chalker has a special appreciation for the hopes and concerns of financial education in home and at school. Ms. Chalker received her M.A. in Education with a focus on Early Childhood Development at Columbia University's Teachers College in New York and her B.A. in English from the University of Illinois.
During her seven years of teaching experience, Ms. Chalker worked with junior high school students in New York City and was committed to bringing elementary school students on the south side of Chicago up to grade level or better in reading and math. Certified to teach in New York and Illinois, Ms. Chalker also taught English as a Second Language in Japan for two years while employed by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
Born in Chicago, Ms. Chalker lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sons.
Jim Charkins, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the California Council on Economic Education (CCEE) and Professor of Economics at California State University, San Bernardino.
Dr. Jim Charkins has taught at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, the Florida State University, Purdue University, and CSUSB. During the summer, he serves on the faculty of the Foundation for Teaching Economics. He was the Economics editor of The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition Teacher's Guide for nine years. He serves on many boards including CCEE, the California Association of School Economics Teachers, the California Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, and the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Business Economists. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1970.
Dr. Charkins served on the ten member writing team for Kindergarten through 12th Grade national economics standards, as economics consultant to the California Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, and on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Content Review Panel for History/Social Science. He also served on the Review Committee for the National Standards for Business Education. He recently served on the committee that recommended revisions to the History/Social Sciences Framework to the California Board of Education. Dr. Charkins has developed economics teaching materials and conducted workshops nationally and internationally for teachers and students from the Kindergarten through doctoral level. He is the author of the MoneyWiseTeen (winner of two international awards for creative marketing), Living the American Dream, the Teacher Guide to the California Economics Standards, and It’s Your Choice.
He is a leader in the area of computerized economics instruction, having been awarded two separate grants by the National Science Foundation to equip computer labs for the CSUSB economics department. He has received numerous other grants and awards including the CSU San Bernardino, Social and Behavioral Sciences 2003 Teacher of the Year and 2009 Outstanding Originator of Distributed Learning.
Linda Hawkins
West Virginia State Treasurer’s Director of School Financial Ed. Programs, Charleston, WV
"Practical Money Skills for Life is the closest program I’ve ever seen to “being all things for all people”; besides being multimedia it is one of the few that starts at pre school working with the parents and follows the students all the way through high school graduation to their first taste of independence."
As the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Director for School Financial Education Programs, Linda Hawkins has led efforts to implement a statewide Bank at School program. She has trained over 600 teachers and bankers how to teach financial literacy.
Formerly a secondary school teacher, Ms. Hawkins has also held the position of the Director of Research, Grants Writing, and Continuing Education for Mountain State University.
Sheila Miller
Teacher, Bristol, NH
"Practical Money Skills for Life provides my students with the tools they will need to be responsible, informed consumers. As teenagers, students want to be independent and make decisions on their own and this curriculum gives them up-to-date, relevant information in an engaging manner. Financial Football, the Practical Money Series with Jean Chatzky and the many other free resources allow students to learn about topics that they are interested in and/or are faced with in their lives."
As a teacher at Newfound Regional High School in Bristol, NH, Sheila Miller has made it her mission to bring money management skills to students. In addition to classroom teaching, she discusses the issue with parents, colleagues and anyone who will listen and is currently working on convincing the powers-that-be that financial literacy should be a graduation requirement. In 2006 Mrs. Miller was presented with the NH JumpStart Teacher Award in recognition of her commitment to the teaching of financial literacy.
Born in West Stewartstown, a small New Hampshire town on the Canadian border, Mrs. Miller received her B.S. in Business Education from Plymouth State College and is certified to teach both Business Education and Computer Science. She currently resides in Bristol with her husband and two children.
Chris Shannon
Director of the Bristol Tech Prep Consortium at Bristol Community College, Boston, MA
"In a 21st Century Global economy, financial literacy is no longer a helpful skill, it is essential to accommodate the life-long learning required to keep our workforce viable. Individuals have greater and earlier access to credit and debit tools that will directly impact their ability to fully finance post-secondary education/training, obtain employment, access stable housing and maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle. The comprehensive Practical Money Skills curriculum helps individuals at every life stage develop sound financial practices that will help them personally and professionally."
Chris Shannon is a consummate educator with an extensive education teaching background. She has designed over 25 workshops for educators and business leaders, as well as 30 educational courses created workshops and classes. In addition, Chris has worked with a diverse number of agencies and organizations—such as Virginia Commonwealth University, Lawrence Literacy Works, the New York and Virginia Credit Union Leagues—training students, professionals and educators. She is a specialist in state content standards, designing crosswalks and aligning curriculum materials to meet NCLB educational goals.
Currently she plays a more active role in the development of youth policy and programming to ensure all youth are college and career ready, ensuring youth are prepared to transition into adulthood with the tools they will need to make informed and successful life decisions. Through Chris, financial literacy became a required component of all WIA funded youth programming in the Merrimack Valley. She currently works at Bristol Community College (BCC) as the Director of the Bristol Tech Prep Consortium, a program that provides students enrolled career and vocational education programming early access to college assessments and credit. Chris currently chairs and/or serves on multiple initiatives across the state of Massachusetts, including those affecting school-to-career transitioning (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), at-risk youth (Pathways to Success by 21 (P21) Initiative and Governor’s Youth Task Force) and workforce succession issues (MWIB Links to Higher Education and Sector Initiatives Subcommittees). She is presently looking for ways to institutionalize financial literacy at BCC.
Chauncey Veatch
National Teacher of the Year, Coachella Valley, CA
"We use the VISA Practical Money Skills Program in my high school Economics classes for a variety of purposes. We use it to work with family and personal budgets. We use to understand the intricacies of the global economy. They are easily aligned to our state standards. They also serve as a potent supplement to our work with our ELL (English Language Learners) students".
During a White House Rose Garden ceremony, on April 24, 2002, Chauncey Veatch was named National Teacher of the Year. Previously, he had been named California, Riverside County, Coachella Valley U.S.D., Coachella Valley High School, Bilingual Education and Migrant Education Teacher of the Year.
Veatch became a teacher in 1995 at the end of his active duty service in the United States Army. He first taught seventh and eighth grade science, mathematics, English, reading, writing, social studies, physical education, and ESL (English as a second language). In the evening Adult Education Program he also taught citizenship test preparation and English classes. In 1999 Veatch began teaching in the Social Studies and Vocational Technical Education Departments at Coachella Valley High School. He specifically requests that non-English speaking students, students with special needs, students with learning disabilities, pregnant teens, and students involved with gangs or drugs be placed in his classes. Since 2003 Veatch also teaches Pre-K, primary, and elementary school students in Head Start and reading intervention programs.
As the College Board’s International Visiting Scholar Veatch travels as a distinguished lecturer with published works on globalization, diversity, and access to post-secondary education. He also serves on Visa USA’s Educator Advisory Council and as a consultant for its financial literacy programs. He is an author and academic advisor in the development of students’ critical language and reading skills for Scholastic’s Zip Zoom English, Read 180, and RED programs. These are technology-based K-12 programs for school administrators, reading coaches, and teachers.
Veatch was recently named International Ambassador for Education by La Prensa Hispana. He is active in the Troops to Teachers Program, the PTA’s National Outreach program to African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American students. In addition to teaching in his district, Veatch is developing the International Student Leadership Academy as a teacher on assignment to the California Governor’s Office and the Riverside County Office of Education. Veatch also served on the Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, the National Advisory Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Year of Languages.
Veatch earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of the Pacific, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, and teaching credential from Chapman University. He is also a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Email to a friend
The information that you provide through this e-mail feature will not be stored by Visa for any other purposes. Please refer to Visa's privacy policy for details.
Comments
Please note that all comments must adhere to the Practical Money Skills Discussion Rules and terms of use.
