Skyler Harwood Receives 2024 Financial Education Instructor of the Year Award

CORNING, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, June 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Each year, the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) chooses a financial educator who has made significant contributions to the financial literacy movement to receive the coveted Financial Education Instructor of the Year (FEIY) Award. Today, the NFEC announced that the 2024 recipient will be Skyler Harwood, whose efforts to raise financial wellness among students and communities in New York’s Southern Tier are having an immense impact.

The NFEC established the FEIY Award to honor a single educator who made extensive contributions to the financial literacy movement over the past year. Because instructors have the single most powerful influence on student success, award recipients have shown their commitment and contributions to the financial wellness of the individuals they reach.

Learn more about Skyler Harwood and the FEIY award.

Skyler Harwood served as Youth & Community Education Coordinator at Corning Credit Union in Corning, New York. Since assuming this role in 2016, she has reached more than 25,000 students aged preschool through college with financial wellness programming. Skyler created a life-sized budgeting board game for middle school students called Adulting 101 that teaches kids how to work together to make solid financial decisions and balance a family budget. She also re-opened two student-run credit union branches after the COVID-19 closure, offering an innovative forum to teach financial literacy to high school students.

The NFEC chooses FEIY award recipients according to three criteria: 1) education, 2) awareness, and 3) sustainability. Skyler Harwood’s credentials conclusively met all these criteria:

Education: Since 2016 Skyler has brought financial education to more than 60 schools and community groups and reached over 25,000 learners with this valuable life skills training. She bases her financial education efforts on holistic, student-led learning, using active, engaging, age-appropriate, and encouraging lessons that prepare students to take control of their own money management.

Awareness: Skyler has expanded the financial education programming across New York’s Southern Tier that started with college-bound high school students to now reaching students from preschool through college. She has broadened the program scope through networking with other financial educators and team members across the U.S.

Sustainability: Skyler Harwood ensures the sustainability of financial education by centering her teaching framework around four pillars: Education, Empathy, Encouragement, and Empowerment. She approaches students with empathy, encouraging them to do their best and empowering them to explore finances in the real world so the learning continues long after they leave the classroom.

“Skyler Harwood richly deserves this year’s respected Financial Education Instructor of the Year Award,” comments the NFEC’s CEO, Vince Shorb. “Teaching people about money can be difficult, but Skyler achieves it with empathy and encouragement – actively involving students in their own learning. The NFEC is proud to recognize Skyler Harwood’s important contributions to the financial wellness movement.”

Skyler Harwood expresses her honor at receiving the FEIY award. “Financial literacy is my passion,” she says. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to help educate in my community and humbled even just to be considered for this award recognizing my work and contributions as a financial educator. My heartfelt thanks to the NFEC for this recognition.”

Distinguished financial educators are those who go beyond just dispensing knowledge to facilitate long-term learning and help students apply the skills they’ve learned in practical, real-world situations. Thus they promote greater financial wellness among learners.

The National Financial Educators Council is delighted to honor financial educators and other champions who propel the financial wellness movement onward. The FEIY award was established to help encourage others to push the boundaries to promote greater financial health.

The National Financial Educators Council is a Certified B Corporation™ and an IACET Accredited Provider focused on mobilizing a global force of champions and advocates, empowering them with state-of-the-art training and resources, to spread the message and support communities worldwide with greater financial wellness.

Claudia Martins
National Financial Educators Council
+1 702-620-3059
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