Career Insight: Extension Promotes Financial Literacy


With all of the possible careers students invested in agriculture can pursue, finding the right fit may seem overwhelming. Here are a few words from guest blogger Luke Erickson, extension educator with Northwest Youth Financial Literacy.


Lyle Hansen and Luke Erickson 

     Agriculture continues to be one of the most important and powerful economic drivers in the state of Idaho. For over a century, University of Idaho Extension has served the individuals and families involved in this industry through a diverse array of programs. One of these is the Northwest Youth Financial Education program.
     The Northwest Youth Financial Education program is a multi-state partnership between Northwest Farm Credit Services, University of Idaho Extension, and the extension systems of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Montana. University of Idaho Extension educators, Luke Erickson and Lyle Hansen, serve as coleaders of this program.
     Luke and Lyle are both native Idahoans, and bring a background of economics, personal finance, and instructional technology to the program. They have both been with Extension for about ten years, and have enjoyed the opportunities to contribute to extension’s support of agriculture and farm families across the state with their personal finance programs.
        The mission of the Northwest Youth Financial Education program is to create and deliver fun and engaging youth programs on important financial topics that help prepare youth to handle real-world finances. A quick look at our website will show that these aren’t run-of-the-mill programs. Based on new and innovative instructional design theories these programs are designed to provide visually and cognitively stimulating learning experiences, where students are able to learn from the consequences of their own decisions in fun, fictionalized game worlds. One example is the signature program, Night of the Living Debt. This iOS app, which will soon be available for free on iTunes, gives youth the opportunity to learn real world principles of credit-building, but in a game world where unforgiving zombies are the creditors!

     
     Many 4-H and FFA groups around the northwest have already enjoyed these programs, and Luke and Lyle are proud to support the next generation of famers by helping them understand how to balance their personal finances.
     This program goes to show the wide variety of careers in agriculture in the state of Idaho, and the great need for innovative minds to make their own unique contributions to this important industry.

Learn more about Night of the Living Debt at:

https://www.uidaho.edu/cals/news-and-events/newsletters/2016/catching-up-with-cals-3-9-16
http://www.uidaho.edu/extension/4h/programs/nw-youth-financial-ed/

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