June Highlights at a Glance
- Summertime Seminar Work Proceeds Apace
- HCPS Connects to Discuss Financial Literacy
- Preparing for Our First D.C. “Fly-In”
Summertime Seminar Work Proceeds Apace
As noted on the ABE website “Upcoming Courses ” section, the first course being developed is a one-day seminar meant for high school students or any other adult newcomer who wants to learn about blockchain technology and associated digital currencies. Now that the summertime is here and schools are closed, my wife and I have been leaning in to curriculum development.
Considering she is a National Board Certified Teacher (“NBCT”) who has taught at every level, combined with the fact that she herself has amassed significant experience using blockchain technology over the last two years herself, she has been the perfect partner to help construct an interactive seminar that includes modules aligned to Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. These include newly introduced strands from 2024 within the broader 9-12 Computer Science standards that cover the history of digital currencies among other concepts.
The image above is just a rough draft as she and I put the content and activities together, and I’m confident that it will look much more polished once our resident expert graphic designer gets to work his magic on the finished modules. Our goal is to finish the rest of the modules by the end of next month, and I hope to personally deliver the first iteration of the seminar at the start of the new school year in August if one of the local school districts will have ABE as a guest lecturer at one of their high schools on a Saturday.
HCPS Connects to Discuss Financial Literacy
Gaither High SchoolAfter sending last month’s update to all of the legislators and school districts, I finally received a reply from Hillsborough County, where I taught for nearly 20 years. My email to the board members had been forwarded along to the specific department that has oversight on the course created by the Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act, SB1054 . We met at Gaither High School in north Tampa to chat about ABE and what we are trying to accomplish and how we can help not only Hillsborough, but all school districts throughout the state.
The best part about the meeting, however, is that I learned a former colleague and friend, Kelly Brennan, is now the supervisor for all of Social Studies in grades 9-12. A decade earlier, the one year I decided to step out of the classroom to become a “New Teacher Mentor,” Kelly was my coach and we became fast friends. When we met at Gaither, it was like no time had passed and she was showing me the ropes once again, only this time giving me insight into how Hillsborough had crafted its financial literacy course around the necessary requirements stipulated in the bill.
Kelly Brennan and Ryan HaczynskiUltimately, what I discovered is that there is currently a patchwork of materials that address the main topics put forth in SB1054. Kelly said that Hillsborough would be delighted to review whatever we create and find ways to incorporate it into their current offerings. She also mentioned that we should seek to have our materials added to C-PALMs , a public repository of lessons that educators across the state can tap into and download for classroom instruction.
Our plan is to meet again within the next week or so to delve into greater details about what the district specifically needs to help round out its current curriculum. She also suggested that I come to speak at a few specific future school board meetings so that she could introduce me to key personnel who work at the FLDOE and could help us in our mission to proliferate our financial literacy lessons.
Preparing for Our First D.C. “Fly-In”
One of the many benefits of our membership with the Blockchain Association is the ability to coordinate “fly-ins” where organizations that are BA members can fly into Washington, D.C. to meet directly with legislators at the federal level. I have already reached out to Madison to help schedule our meetings for the end of July, so next month’s update should include a healthy update around the conversations we will have had with Florida’s leaders. Our CEO Ray Alvarez and I are excited to share what we have already accomplished in our first year, from making key connections to starting to create curriculum to help students understand both blockchain technology and financial literacy.
Stay tuned for our next update, where we will have more great news to share for the month of July!
