Our Partners

• The Virginia Council for Economic Education (VCEE.org)
  In partnership with the Virginia Council for Economic Education, YES works for the inclusion of key economic concepts at each grade level K-12 and the required high school course in economic education and personal finance. We also partner to provide teachers with professional development and certification courses and teacher workshops.
• Council for Economic Education
  YES collaborates regularly with its national and international partner, the Council for Economic Education. YES-supported educators make economics and personal finance presentations at national conferences and submit lessons to the Council’s online portal, EconEdLink. EconEdLink is a premier source of classroom-tested, Internet-based economic and personal finance materials for K-12 teachers and their students. The site welcomes more than 1.1 million visitors each year.
• Richmond Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and San Francisco “Invest in What’s Next: Life After High School”
  This valuable personal finance planning tool is a free, online course that helps students evaluate their choices for one of the biggest decisions they’ll face – what path to pursue after high school.

Community Partners:

YES teams up with JMU, school systems, and local community nonprofits and businesses to provide relevant and accessible professional development for teachers.

• James Madison University Center for Economic Education
  Working in partnership with the JMU Center for Economic Education, YES provides responsive and quality lesson plans for K-12 teachers and the workshops, educational resources, tools and activities to make their responsibility for teaching economic education and financial literacy easier.
• James Madison University College of Business
  YES has flourished in part because of its excellent fit with the mission of James
  Madison University. The JMU College of Business continues to support a Center for Economic Education as an active complement to its academic department of economics. The College has provided support for a Ph.D. economist to bring academic authority to the Center while the outreach brings real-world contact to the College. The result is a public-private partnership with a solid record of success.
• Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County Schools
  YES works with the Superintendent of each school division, and even more closely with social studies department heads, career and technical education coordinators, and teachers, to understand challenges and provide responsive and helpful solutions.
• Explore More Discovery Museum
  YES and its Board partnered with Mike Gochenour of Janney Montgomery Scott and many area banks to collaborate with the Explore More Discovery Museum in Downtown Harrisonburg to develop a Cash Flow Ball Maze Exhibit that has elements of earning, investing, spending, sharing, and saving. John Kruggel works closely with the museum’s exhibit designer to create fun and engaging exercises and activities as well as age-appropriate economics materials for school field trips. Please see all of the sponsors of this amazing exhibit.

Program Sponsorship Partners:

We are thankful for the sponsorship we receive from our local school systems and private businesses who help make YES programming possible.

• Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County Schools
  Partnering with YES annually, Harrisonburg and Rockingham County schools provide financial support for the teacher consultant program. In recognition of this funding, the Center has the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area as its primary service area. Support for economic education is also available by telephone, mail and e-mail for the secondary service area from Buena Vista-Lexington in the south to Winchester in the north.
• “GEM” Fair – Atlantic Union Bank and JMU Center for Economic Education
  YES, in partnership with Atlantic Union Bank and JMU, provides the leadership and financial support for an annual regional market day or “GEM” Fair (Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace) Fair for hundreds of students in the Shenandoah Valley. The “GEM” Fair is a culminating activity for the Mini-Economy giving students the opportunity to experience a large-scale market day.
• Stock Market Game™ Awards Banquet – Strategent Financial
  The Stock Market Game™ is a comprehensive economics and personal finance education program for Grades 4 to 12. Small student teams compete for awards by investing $100,000 in an online, virtual portfolio. Students research and apply their investment ideas in a real-world market environment.
• Reading Makes Cent$ Financial Library Book Collection – 5 Area Rotary Clubs
  YES thinks Reading Makes Cent$ is a very effective way for teaching Financial Literacy concepts to elementary students in a fun and engaging way. Because lesson plan templates and age appropriate activities accompany each book, it is easy for any teacher to incorporate into their curriculum. Frustrated that only 7 librarians could win the full set in a given year, YES teamed up with 5 area Rotary Clubs to raise money so that each of the 28 participating elementary librarians in Rockingham County received the full Financial Library Book Collection. Lynne Stover, then serving as the YES funded teacher advocate and consultant, along with YES board members, personally delivered each of the 28 sets to the librarians.
• FBLA Xchange – Eddie Edwards Signs
  The FBLA Xchange is a new program that is overseen by John Kruggel, the YES-funded Teacher Advocate and Consultant and Associate Director for the JMU Center for Economic Education. The FBLA Xchange brings students from Harrisonburg and the surrounding school divisions to JMU’s campus to learn more about the Future Business Leaders of America. Students from the region work together to find ways to increase FBLA membership at their schools and present their ideas to each other under the guidance of FBLA leadership. The FBLA Xchange event also provides an enormous opportunity for students to prepare for regional and state competitions and to develop the skills they need for a successful career in business.

Teacher Awards & Recognition Partnerships:

All schools in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are eligible for the local economic education awards program. There are 14 cash prizes at our local level and anyone who places in the awards competition is recognized and celebrated at an annual luncheon.

• The Appleseeds Foundation
  Each year the Fred and Carol Showker and the Appleseeds Foundation partners with YES to provide significant annual financial support for cash prizes provided to area educators who place or win local economic education teaching awards.
• The Harrisonburg Rotary Club
  The Harrisonburg Rotary Club partners with YES to provide annual financial support for cash prizes provided to area educators who place or win local economic education teaching awards. Additionally, the Club hosts a recognition luncheon each October where winners are recognized and present an overview of their winning lesson.
• The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce
  The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce partners with YES in hosting the annual awards selection process. The Chamber also provides annual financial support for cash prizes provided to area educators who place or win local economic education teaching awards for promoting financial literacy.