Zarnke receives Governor’s Financial Literacy Award

By Valorie Brecht Loyal School District financial literacy teacher Jessica Zarnke enjoys empowering students with the financial knowledge they need to make wise decisions supporting a strong financial future.

Zarnke joined 10 other individuals and eight organizations that were honored in a ceremony at the Wisconsin State Capitol last week Tuesday, receiving the Governor’s Financial Literacy Award. The recipients were honored for their efforts in helping Wisconsinites build their financial literacy and capability skills.

“Financial education gives people the tools they need to achieve their goals, expand new opportunities, and help attain financial security for themselves and their families,” said Gov. Tony Evers.

“These dedicated individuals and organizations are doing important work to help Wisconsinites become more financially secure and prepare for their futures, which is a critical part of strengthening the financial wellbeing of our entire state. I thank these dedicated individuals and organizations for all they have done to help advance financial wellness in Wisconsin, and I congratulate them for receiving this prestigious award.”

The 2024 Governor’s Financial Literacy Awards honored recipients in one of three categories, individual, organization, or legacy, for providing exceptional financial literacy and capability education in an inclusive and innovative manner. Zarnke received an individual award for her efforts in developing Loyal’s financial literacy program, in which students have shown measurable growth in key areas like knowledge of investing and saving.

“It’s exciting. The biggest thing though is knowing it’s not just me,” said Zarnke. “Just like the saying goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ it takes a village to make this financial literacy program happen, whether’s it’s funding, students, staff, parents, administration — it’s really the district and the community receiving this award.”

Zarnke has been employed with the Loyal School District, the only district at which she has taught, for the past 6.5 years. Although she would be the first to tell you she feels this position is where she’s meant to be, her path to becoming a teacher was anything but traditional.

Zarnke, a graduate of Abbotsford High School, earned her bachelor’s degree from UW-River Falls, majoring in animal science with an equine emphasis. She earned her master’s degree in community and

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Jessica Zarnke, Loyal financial literacy teacher, is shown here with Gov. Tony Evers and First Lady Kathy Evers. Zarnke received the Governor’s Financial Literacy Award for excellence in financial literacy education.

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organizational leadership from UWStevens Point. Later on, she went back and obtained her teaching license for technical and vocational education — pre-K through grade 12 — through the Department of Public Instruction.

However, after graduating from college, Zarnke spent several years working as a career coach for the UW System, specifically the Marshfield and Wausau campuses. She would travel to 71 high schools in north-central Wisconsin, speak with students about what UW schools could offer, and answer any questions they might have. As part of that circuit, she visited Loyal frequently and enjoyed interacting with the students.

In 2018, then-Loyal guidance counselor Rebecca Scherer told Zarnke about an opportunity to teach financial literacy full-time at Loyal, thanks to the Draper Hills Financial Literacy Endowment established by community benefactor Dr. Eldon Hill. Around that same time, the UW System was consolidating its operations and paring down staff at some of its two-year campuses due to budget cuts, which would have affected Zarnke’s role. So, it turned out to be the right time for a career change, Zarnke said. She was hired and started at Loyal in January 2019.

Since then, Zarnke has been helping Loyal students make “cents” of money management, from the elementary level through high school. She currently teaches two half-credit high school courses: Personal Finance and Finance and Investing, both required for graduation. She also teaches a middle school Exploring class each trimester, and eight to 10 elementary classes per week.

She appreciates the practical nature of her subject matter and having the opportunity to help her students avoid financial pitfalls so they can make their money go further.

“Financial literacy is a subject I love in that we all have to utilize these skills. Students never ask me, ‘When will I need this?’” she said. “In your late teens and early 20s, you have to make a lot of financial decisions. I’ve become so passionate about it because looking back, you just don’t know what you don’t know.”

She shares with students her own story about being fresh out of college and purchasing a car, deciding to live on her own, and her student loans coming due all around the same time.

“Now all of a sudden, I had all of these expenses with rent, student loans, my car payment, and other payments on top of that like my credit card bill. I wasn’t prepared financially. So I like to share with students things they should know before taking out their first loan or getting their first credit card, so they can be better prepared.

“It’s also important to think long-term. Even if you put $25 a week into a Roth IRA when you’re in your early 20s, that adds up. So there’s just some stuff I wish I would have known at 25 that I know now. It’s a lot of real-life stuff that you will experience, like what’s the difference between a W-2 and a W-4, how to file income taxes, all those types of things.”

In addition to class time, Zarnke has reached hundreds through creative programming such as escape rooms, the annual Financial Literacy Family Night, and partnerships, such as that with Simplicity Credit Union (which also received a Governor’s Financial Literacy Award as an organization at this recent ceremony). The credit union operates a school branch that is open weekly, with the help of 13 student volunteers and Zarnke’s oversight. The students are well on their way to meeting their goal of 500 deposits this school year.

Zarnke took three high school students to the Personal Finance Challenge Bowl at Mid-State in Wisconsin Rapids this year. She serves as advisor for the Middle School Investing Club. In addition, four of her students have won the InvestWrite essay contest put on by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Foundation. She also coordinated a financial literacy workshop for the community entitled, “The Power of Planning for the Future: Taxation and Estate Planning.” In addition, she has hosted a book study for Loyal school staff members the past two years in which they read a financial literacy book and discuss it.

All of Zarnke’s teaching and programming has had a measurable impact. Over the 2023-24 school year, 460 individuals were impacted by programming organized, taught, and/or facilitated by Zarnke. Of those, 65 were adults and 395 were students. Students also saw quantifiable improvement in financial knowledge. Next Generation Personal Finance partnered with Penn State Behrend to provide a free financial literacy programming and efficacy assessment. Zarnke had her high school students take a pretest before each trimester and a post-test afterwards. The test assessed knowledge of key financial literacy topics, including earning income, investing, managing credit, managing risk, saving, and spending. Students showed improvement scores between 11 and 18 percent.

“It’s really cool to see, even for my own teaching. For example, students really jumped up in the area of managing credit, while some of the other areas, they still improved, but not by as much, so it shows where I can enhance my lessons to improve scores,” she said.

Zarnke continues to work to improve her teaching effectiveness, having completed “dozens, if not hundreds” of hours of professional development.

For Zarnke, it has been rewarding to see her students grow and learn.

“To each and every student, both current and former, being your financial literacy teacher has given me so much joy! I couldn’t do what I do without you! Your smiles, questions, and the conversations we have had make my heart so full!” she wrote in a Facebook post.

She was grateful to all who have supported her along the way, both professionally and personally.

“To my husband, mom, and kids, your selflessness and willingness to always help me doesn’t go unnoticed. Your unwavering love and support is felt and deeply appreciated.”

This is not the first time Loyal has been put on the map in the Governor’s Financial Literacy Awards. The late Dr. Eldon Hill, whose endowment enabled the creation of the Loyal School District K-12 financial literacy program, received a Legacy Award in February 2020. He was unable to attend the ceremony at that time, but his daughter, Zarnke, and Sue Bornick of the Eau Claire Community Foundation accepted the award on his behalf.

Zarnke lives in Marshfield with her husband, Zach, and their three children.

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