The NGPF community is crossing major milestones this year! 100,000 Teacher Accounts in April... 10th Anniversary in May... In June, California adopted a standalone personal finance graduation requirement, bringing the total to 26 states serving 64% of all U.S. high schoolers guaranteeing a personal finance course before graduation! Here we are in July, and there are now 1,021 NGPF Distinguished Educators who have each completed at least six NGPF Certification Courses!

What does it take to become an NGPF Distinguished Educator?

To earn this lifetime award, teachers pass any combination of six or more NGPF Certification Courses. Each of these courses requires teachers to:

• participate in nine hours of live instruction to boost their content mastery in a core personal finance unit (e.g. Banking & Budgeting, Career, Investing) AND
• pass the corresponding 1-hour exam at the end of their cohort with a score of 80% or better

If you're doing the math at home, the teachers we're celebrating today have each completed 60+ hours of targeted professional development building diverse, real life personal finance skills! Most states also accept these courses as CEUs / renewal credits for teacher licensure, and through our partnership with Arizona State University, some courses can be applied to subsidized graduate-level credits. These courses are adding maximum value for teachers' time and dedication to teaching personal finance skills for the next generation.

Teachers, you can learn more and register for your next NGPF Certification Course here.

Meet the 43 newly Crowned Distinguished Educators!

Ann Allen from Baldwin High School (GA)
Daniel Bacharach from Long Island City High School (NY)
Jamal Bermudez from Townsend Harris High School (NY)
Michelle Bruna from Washington County High School (KS)
Jeremy Bryson from Laurel Highlands High School (PA)
David Buerger from Gray Middle School (KY)
Symone Burrell from FLY Initiative (RI)
Elizabeth Carnes from Cicero-North Syracuse High School (NY)
Karen Curtis from Schuyler-Steuben-Chemung-Tioga-Allegany BOCES (NY)
Gaby Delisme from Hillsborough Community College (FL)
Elaine Drake from Pittsburgh Public Schools (PA)
Brad Drinkwater from Connetquot High School (NY)
Joe Faust from Owen J. Roberts High School (PA)
Justine Flora from Bedford High School (MA)
Melynda Foley from Richford High School (VT)
Julie Forshee from Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA)
Preston Gardner from Mountain Ridge High School (UT)
James Geibel from Justice High School (VA)
LaKisha Gilmore-Atherton from Personal Finance Journeys (CA)
Kathy Givens from Hawthorne High School (CA)
Seong Ha from Glenbrook South High School (IL)
Joyce Haggard from Sycamore High School (TN)
Lorraine Henkel from New Rochelle High School (NY)
Danielle Hernandez from Philadelphia Financial Scholars (PA)
Jessica Jacobson from Eden Prairie Senior High (MN)
April Larsen from Utah Online School (UT)
Youri Litvine from Central Dauphin East High School (PA)
Kimberly Mattoon from Taylor High School (MI)
Emily Mazur from Columbus Alternative High School (OH)
Andrea McCue from Haldane High School (NY)
Elizabeth Mendoza from Raymondville Options Academic Academy (TX)
Jessie Pepe from University Christian High School (NC)
Asenath Rallison from Westlake High School (UT)
Kathlyen Reed from Hillsdale High School (MI)
Jennifer Robinson from Thomas W. Harvey High School (OH)
Melissa Smith from Lanier High School (GA)
Ray Snyder from Dover High School (NJ)
Jann Strube from Emerson Middle School (NJ)
Glenn Tidwell from Arlington Heights High School (TX)
Kathryn VanGilder from Seneca High School (KY)
Tara Williamson from American Leadership Academy - Sierra Vista (AZ)
Kathy Wilson from Ironwood High School (AZ)
Beckey Wong from Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area (HI)

Meet ALL the NGPF Distinguished Educators!

• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 43, announced June 2024)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 41-42, announced April 2024)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 40, announced March 2024)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 39, announced January 2024)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 38, announced December 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 37, announced October 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Pilot Cohort, announced September 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohorts 35-36, announced August 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 34, announced July 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 33, announced June 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 32, announced May 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 31, announced April 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 30, announced February 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 29, announced January 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 28, announced December 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 27, announced November 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohorts 25-26, announced September 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohorts 1-24, announced July 2022)

About the Author

Christian Sherrill

Former teacher, forever financial education nerd. As NGPF's Director of Growth & Advocacy, Christian is laser-focused on our mission to guarantee all students a rigorous personal finance course before crossing the high school graduation stage. Having paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years - while living in the Bay Area on an entry level teacher's salary - he's eager to help the next generation avoid financial pitfalls one semester at a time.