Celebrating Over 50 Years of Economics and Financial Literacy Education.

YES is a trusted partner and advocate who provides innovative and relevant training on economics and financial literacy for K-12 teachers to enable them to provide their students with engaging and interactive lesson plans and activities with the goal of mastering economics and financial literacy concepts, preparing them to succeed.

YES Supports Teachers and Enhances Student Success.

In a typical year, YES (Your Economic Success) provides programs that reach 800 teachers with economics and financial literacy information, materials, and lesson plans; 100 teachers with training and workshops, webinars and other virtual economics and financial literacy content; and 20 teachers for intensive training in economic education. Using figures supplied by the Virginia Council on Economic Education, this translates into classroom benefits for more than 32,000 students in the Shenandoah Valley.

Group Of High School Students Applauding Presentation
Male Teacher Reading Story To Group Of Elementary Pupils Wearing Uniform In School Classroom
Teacher helping school kids using tablet computers in class

Mission

To promote economics and financial literacy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Vision

To be known as the preeminent resource for enhanced economics and financial literacy education.

Philosophy

  • Provide Teacher Training

    YES is a trusted partner and advocate who provides innovative and relevant training for K-12 teachers to enable them to provide their students with engaging and interactive lesson plans and activities with the goal of mastering economics and financial literacy concepts, preparing them to succeed.

  • Make Learning Fun

    We strive to make teaching and learning economics and personal finance accessible and fun for teachers and their students. Working with our community partners, we adapt our training and approaches as societal trends and popular culture change to ensure that materials are appealing and fresh.

  • Honor Economics Educators

    We encourage and support our local teachers’ applications for local, state and national awards. We collaborate with our partners to recognize the success of teachers and their students in our community and throughout the state.

  • Provide Program Funding

    Because of the vision and generosity of several key businessmen who founded this organization and, with the help of many others, a permanent endowment was established to help support economics and financial literacy programming. With endowment proceeds, the board has been able to hire highly credentialed teacher advocates and consultants who provide on-going training and support for teachers.

  • Partnered For Success

    This program 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 an education public-private partnership with a solid record of success in providing economics and financial literacy education.

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