Wyoming is one of only five states in the U.S. that has no personal finance standards or requirements in public schools. The Center for Financial Literacy gave Wyoming a ‘D’ in their report card on efforts to produce high school graduates with financial literacy skills. Research from the Wyoming Business Council finds that of all workers 18 years old, only 40% are still working in Wyoming 10 years later.
Wyoming communities are facing the need to equip their young people with crucial financial literacy and work readiness skills, diversify industries through entrepreneurship and innovation, and incentivize people to stay in the local workforce. We are excited to announce that JA-Rocky Mountain will be expanding it’s programming throughout the entire state of 2023!
Five years ago, JA was running programs in three Wyoming counties, which has since grown 14 counties! In five years, we have seen an 80% increase in student engagement in Wyoming. Through new and effective partnerships, we have created a path to significantly increase our program impact and student reach. These relationships include, but are not limited to:
- Wyoming Department of Education
- Wyoming Association for Career & Technical Education
- Wyoming DOE Office of Native American Education
- Wyoming Afterschool Alliance
- Wyoming DECA & Wyoming FBLA
- Boys & Girls Clubs
In addition to cultivating education partners, we have worked hard to secure the financial resources required to maintain our program growth in Wyoming. These relationships include, but are not limited to: Bank of the West, Blue Foundation, Daniels Fund, OtterCares Foundation, Rocky Mountain Power, Taco Bell, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Williams Companies, and the Wyoming Community Foundation.
Elizabeth Winn, District Director of Northern Colorado and Wyoming notes, “We are thrilled with this development and will continue to dedicate ourselves to growing our student engagement in Wyoming. Thanks to the amazing support of our program and funding partners, our perseverance in bringing awareness of our programs to educators through increased outreach across the state is working.” Adding, “We have only just begun to meet our potential and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for JA programming in the cowboy state.”
JA-Rocky Mountain is committed to providing our K-12 programs to any and all Wyoming educators. The continued momentum generated in Wyoming will help communities instill hope in their youth—to envision a future in their home state, giving back to the local economy, bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to the workforce – to envision boundless possibilities.
