News Release: Students Receive Financial Literacy Scholarships from Kansas Insurance Department

Eight participants in Jobs for Americas’ Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) programs were announced Tuesday as winners of a financial literacy essay contest sponsored by the Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner, a division of the Kansas Insurance Department.

Kansas’ 81 JAG programs, which serve approximately 4,300 students in 43 school districts across the state, reported a graduation rate of 97 percent for the Class of 2020. One of the responsibilities of JAG-K is the instruction of sound financial management to its participants, many of whom come from low-income families.

The Securities division works to protect Kansas citizens by creating awareness of fraudulent activity in the securities industry and by assisting the Kansas Attorney General in identifying and prosecuting fraud.  The Securities division is partnering with student development organizations like JAG-K to support and promote financial literacy programs throughout the state.

The Kansas Insurance Department donated $20,000 to help support JAG-K’s efforts to teach important financial concepts to the students in the program. Half of the donated funds were designated for a financial literacy essay contest in which the top three JAG-K student essays would split a share of $10,000 in scholarship funds.

Securities Commissioner Dan Klucas announced the scholarship winners at the JAG-K Career Development Conference hosted at Barton Community College. The scholarship winners included:

1st Place, $5,000 – Karina Martinez, Kiowa County High School

2nd Place, $3,000 – Jewelyah Barker, El Dorado Extend High School

3rd Place, $2,000 – Hannah Greenleaf, Kiowa County High School

“The winning essays displayed a firm understanding of important financial concepts like budgeting, savings and investing,” said Commissioner Klucas. “The essays show that JAG-K students are obtaining practical money skills that will serve them well in adulthood.”

The Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner also awarded $1,000 scholarships to the following participants in the essay contest: Caydan Pore, Kiowa County; Connor Pore, Kiowa County; Liberty Gilkey, Kiowa County; Aleah Netherland, Kanssas City FL Schlagle; Ciera Bass, Atchison. 

JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 6-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally accredited, evidence-based model.

The 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 40 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, Evergy, Goldstein Charitable Trust, John Deere, the Kansas Health Foundation, the Kansas Insurance Department, the Kansas State Bank Commissioner, Stormont Vail Health, Synchrony Financial, the Taco Bell Foundation and Walmart.

To learn more about JAG-K, visit www.jagkansas.org, ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, and on Twitter at @JAG_Kansas.