Congratulations to 92 newly crowned NGPF Distinguished Educators! Find out how each magnificent teacher earned their Distinguished Educator plaque and badge through NGPF Certification Courses!

Announcing 92 NEW Next Gen Personal Finance Distinguished Educators

Today marks another significant increase in the classroom confidence of the NGPF community with 92 educators from around the U.S. adding a Distinguished Educator award from NGPF to their professional development portfolio. The NGPF Distinguished Educator Award is a lifetime award that educators earn by passing 6+ NGPF Certification Courses in real-world topics like Banking and Budgeting, Behavioral Economics, Credit, Insurance, Investing, Taxes and beyond!

EACH of these NGPF Certification Courses is comprised of 9 hours of instruction and a 1-hour certification exam. If you've done the mental math at home, each of the following educators has completed 60+ hours of professional development in life-changing personal finance concepts before empowering their students with the same!

That is amazing dedication to the teaching craft befitting the title of NGPF Distinguished Educator. They now join the ranks of 1,113 NGPF Distinguished Educators as of writing. Magical!

Meet the Newly Crowned NGPF Distinguished Educators

NOTE: The following educators earned their 6th (+) certification in NGPF Certification Course Cohorts 45 and 46. Scroll down for past awards.

• Liz Antolik from Greater Latrobe Junior High School (PA)
• Robert Baines from Phoenix North High School (AZ)
• Jacki Bauman from Fort Morgan High School (CO)
• Ellie Beaudo from Horizon High School (CO)
• Josh Bessert from Freeport High School (IL)
• Kevin Bloom from Sayreville War Memorial High School (NJ)
• Amin Borji from New Century School (MN)
• Joy Bridges from Trenton Middle School (MO)
• Amber Brown from Yuma High School (CO)
• David Brown from Central Bucks High School South (PA)
• Brian Campbell from Wellesley Middle School (MA)
• Mark Carlson from Armada High School (MI)
• Sandra Cary from Macarthur Middle School (IL)
• Charles Catalano, formerly Red Cloud Indian School (SD)
• Mark Chapman from Athens High School (OH)
• David Cohen from Hutto High School (TX)
• Christine Colella from VHS Learning (MA)
• Jennifer Cook from Ft. Zumwalt West High (MO)
• Eric Cortes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School (NY)
• Cynthia Cox from Alpine High School (TX)
• Lisa Dempsey from Greenwich High School (CT)
• Yamuna DeSilva from South River High School (NJ)
• Aaron DeVandry from American Leadership Academy West Foothills (AZ)
• Jeanine Dilling from Somerville High School (NJ)
• Alison Duff from St. Henry District High School (KY)
• Lorrie Evans from Charles O. Dickerson High School (NY)
• Lexxis Ferrer from Financial Literacy Youth Initiative, FLY (NY)
• Dawn Finley from Beekmantown Middle School (NY)
• Jessica Firth from Wasatch School District (UT)
• Miche Franken from Guilford County Schools (NC)
• Karly Frisch from West High School (WI)
• Micki Garnes from Ann H. Kilgore Gifted Center (VA)
• Jennifer Garnett from MAST Academy (FL)
• Kelly Gates from White Pigeon High School (MI)
• Ryan Gilles from Stansbury High School (UT)
• Erin Giorgio from Science Leadership Academy (PA)
• Stephanie Golladay from Rector High School (AR)
• Brandon Gomez from Mapleton Junior High School (UT)
• Elizabeth Gumbiner from Medical University of South Carolina (SC)
• Dr. Cheryl Guy from Empower College & Career Center (GA)
• Jodie Haggerty from Stroudsburg High School (PA)
• Maria Hatcher from Collier Adult and Community Education (FL)
• Debra Holmen-Madden from Christian Liberty Academy (IL)
• Rudy Huezo from Long Beach (CA)
• Jeanne Jacobs from Charles Wright Academy (WA)
• Ron Johnson from Arlington High School (NY)
• Katie Kaatz from Leslie High School (MI)
• Matt Kahn from Cottonwood High School (UT)
• Jackie Kemper from Christian School of York (PA)
• Maria Kennedy from Impact Leadership Academy at Wilson (TX)
• Ann Kidwell from Hedgesville High School (WV)
• Jennifer Kizior from Paul Revere Academy (AZ)
• Deanna Koenigsberg from Richardson ISD (TX)
• Joy Kogut from Rutland Senior High School (VT)
• Patricia Lay from Clinton Middle School (TN)
• Maggie LeGrand from North Gaston High School (NC)
• Joseph Lehman from Ocean City High School (NJ)
• Kerri LeMay from Capital Region BOCES Career & Technical Education Center (NY)
• Melani Lippard from West Rowan High School (NC)
• Chad T. Lower from Laurel Springs School (CA)
• Amanda Lucero from Panther Creek High School (TX)
• Ben Martinez from Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School (CA)
• Richard Martorello from Coral Academy Sandy Ridge (NV)
• Terrance McGuire from Clinton Senior High School (MA)
• Charis Mitchell from Financial Literacy Youth Initiative, FLY (NY)
• Hieu Nguyen from Central High School Continuation (CA)
• Wendy Olsen from Renaissance Academy (UT)
• Jose Ortiz from Bingham High School (UT)
• Rachel Perala from Westwood High School (MI)
• Carrie Pericola from Clark School (MA)
• Robert Phelan from Middletown High School (MD)
• Sara Pollack from Westfield High School (VA)
• Subhadra Ramchandran from Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School (NJ)
• Matthew Ryan from Concord High School (CA)
• Karen Saeli from Akron High School (NY)
• Sanjib Saha from Dollar Mentor (WA)
• Cassandra Santoyo from Richardson Middle School (IL)
• Miriam Snare, Homeschool
• Kevin Snider from Centennial High School (NV)
• Bari Stevens-Chapman from Jordan High School (CA)
• Logan Stroud from Newark High School (OH)
• Jacie Stuerman from Harlan High School (IA)
• Beth Terpstra from Maine South High School (IL)
• Annette Thievin from Scobey High School (MT)
• Titus Thompson from Providence Catholic High School (IL)
• Emily Vespo from Weddington High School (NC)
• Morgan Westervelt from Pittsburg High School (KS)
• Jacob Whetman from Utah Online 7-12 School (UT)
• Donna Whetzel from City Springs Elementary/Middle School (MD)
• Monica Wittrock from Luxemburg-Casco High School (WI)
• Carol Wolgamot from Great Bridge High School (VA)
• Brian Zimdars from Middleton High School (WI)

Meet ALL the NGPF Distinguished Educators!

• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 44, announced July 2024)
• 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)

Thank you to NGPF Distinguished Educators past, present, and future!

Effective teacher professional development in personal finance topics is the key to moving our nation forward as more and more states adopt personal finance course guarantees. Thank you to the teachers who commit to professional learning as they teach this empowering course for the next generation! You are heroes!

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.