NGPF introduced a new PD opportunity, Virtual Professional Development (Virtual PD) in January 2019, as a way to facilitate teacher collaboration. In these one-hour video conferences, teachers get an opportunity to use an NGPF resource, reflect on how they would customize for their students and then exchange implementation ideas with other teachers.

Here's a sampling of teacher feedback from these sessions:

• "This was just great and I will definitely join you again. The format was wonderful, loved the spreadsheet where we could add our reflections and loved the sharing of information and suggestions from the other educators!"
• "I love this format - this was my first but it will not be my last! What a great way to get some excellent PD!!!!!"
• "This is my third VPD in two days and I am loving them!"

In just four months, over 200 teachers have participated in these engaging Virtual PD sessions. Each of the teachers receiving the Extra Mile Award participated in at least 5 Virtual PDs since January: 

• Deborah Sonnichsen of Foothill High School (Henderson, NV)
• Victoria Rizzo of Eastern Oregon University (Troutdale, OR)
• Rebecca Hasbrouck of Young Senior High School (Herminie, PA)
• Katie Petrie of Clinton Senior High School (Clinton, NY)
• James Meadows of Gretna High School (Gretna, VA)
• Veronica Mower of School of Business, Technology, Marketing & Finance (Paterson, NJ)
• Melinda Byers of South Haven USD 509 (South Haven, KS)
• Sheila Miller of Newfound Regional High School (Bristol, NH)
• Theresa Miller of Cary-Grove High School (Cary, IL)
• Cyndi Durkee of Wahconah Regional High School (Dalton, MA)
• Tony Montgomery of City-As-School High School (New York, NY)
• Julia Kubian of Bridgewater-Raritan High School (Bridgewater, NJ)
• Joann Novak of The Academy of Science & Entrepreneurship (Bloomington, IN)

Special recognition goes to Deborah Sonnichsen of Foothill High School (Henderson, NV) who participated in 20 Virtual PDs and Victoria Rizzo of Eastern Oregon University (Troutdale, OR) who participated in 18 Virtual PDs.

Each of the Extra Mile Award winners will receive a $50 Amazon gift card. Thank you for your incredible commitment to financial education and your contributions to the community.

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Earn NGPF Academy credits by participating in a Virtual PD this summer. In these sessions, you will play popular NGPF games, familiarize yourself with various NGPF resource types (e.g., FinCap Friday, Fine Prints) and collaborate with other teachers to exchange implementation ideas. Over 30 options to choose from! 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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