The Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC

This morning, K–8 educators gathered at Crayons and Beyond here in Cincinnati for the latest installment of the Alpaugh Scholars Professional Development Series: Using Children's Books & $martPath to Teach Real-World Money Skills.

Participants explored children's literature that introduces concepts like saving, spending, entrepreneurship, and decision-making, and got a guided walkthrough of the $martPath financial literacy platform.

Children's author (and Center Emerging Leaders board member) Courtney Reinhold joined the workshop to share her books, which were written specifically to teach kids real-world money skills. Every educator left with a copy to use in their classroom!

This week, students from across the country gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for the National Personal Finance Challenge, competing in retirement planning, investment strategy, and financial literacy.

We were proud to cheer on the team from Madeira High School in Greater Cincinnati, who represented Ohio with distinction, winning their case study bracket before falling to Maryland in the quiz bowl round. A tough bracket, and an impressive run!

A team from Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland went on to win the competition.

That's a wrap on the 2025–26 Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) school year!

Over the past few weeks, students at six schools held their final StEP stores of the year, and since it's the last one, every student had to spend or donate their remaining StEP earnings (rewards for good behavior and attendance). Watching kids make those decisions is always one of our favorite moments of the year.

We also noticed something exciting this year: more students than ever were intentional savers. We'll be sharing the data this summer — stay tuned!

A huge thank you to the incredible volunteers who made these final stores happen:

Bond Hill (5/18) — Volunteers from Messer Construction Co.: Megan, Tracie, Hannah & Lauren | Donations → Ronald McDonald House

St. Clement (5/19) — Volunteers from Dinsmore: Victoria, Hunter & board member Mike Dailey | Donations → St. Clement Food Pantry

Evendale (5/19) — Volunteers from Danis: Nic, Avery, Nick & EL Dan Kurtz | Donations → Dragonfly Foundation

Roll Hill (5/20) — Volunteers from Deloitte: Valerie, Eduardo, Khushi & Sahiba | Donations → Shriners Hospital for Children

Covedale (5/21) — Volunteers from Johnson Investment Counsel: Nathan, Jake, Logan, Michael, Ashley, Lauren, Tammy & EL Donald Ennis | Donations → SPCA

Frederick Douglass (5/27) — Volunteers from Merus: Jennifer, Sam, Brittany, EL Brett Kron & bonus volunteer David Okun; and from Bartlett Wealth Management: Sheila, Will, Abigail & EL Jared Wheeler | Donations → Ronald McDonald House

And we can't end the year without a special shoutout to Mr. Nalley — beloved 4th grade teacher and big StEP fan, who is retiring this year. Thank you for everything, Mr. Nalley!

To every student, teacher, volunteer, and community partner who was part of StEP this year: thank you. See you in the fall!

That's a wrap on the Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) for the year at Amity Elementary in Deer Park Community City Schools!

Our StEP team visited grades 3–6 in Deer Park on May 15th, joined by a big, wonderful team of volunteers that included ten Deer Park High School student volunteers, UC volunteer Audrey, and Erin from Nationwide.

The highlight? Saying goodbye to this year's senior volunteers during the school's walkthrough. These seniors were the very first class to start StEP in 3rd grade, making them true StEP originals. We gave each of them a special graduation plushie to mark the occasion. It's been so special for our StEP team to see former StEP students come back to give back.

This Memorial Day, we pause to honor the men and women who gave everything in service to this country. Their sacrifice secured the freedoms we enjoy every day, including the freedom to learn, to grow, and to build a better future.

From all of us at the Alpaugh Family Economics Center, thank you.

Thanks to Heartland Bank for their great commitment to financial education in our community, and to Pam and Briana for spending their day helping out at Market Madness! We’re so grateful for our incredible volunteers.

Heartland Bank team members Pam Kool and Briana Fry had the opportunity to volunteer at this year’s Market Madness, hosted by the The Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC.

Community involvement is at the heart of who we are, and supporting hands‑on learning experiences like this is one of the many reasons we love being a community bank.

More than 1,100 students, teachers, and chaperones came together to bring their school economies to life, trading creative products and services from their student‑run businesses. The energy was high, the ideas were impressive, and the students made the day unforgettable.

Pictured are all the volunteers who helped make the event such a success!

Our research team is proud to have contributed to this. The Women's Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation's Cliff Effect Resource Hub brings together the research, including our analysis, showing why a small raise can actually set a working family back.

We’re proud to share the release of our newest report: Getting Ahead While Falling Behind: Understanding Cliff Effects in Ohio’s Public Benefits Programs.

This research examines how benefit cliffs impact working families across seven Ohio counties, exploring the experiences of two different family structures in each community.

The report also highlights opportunities for employers, policymakers, and community leaders to help create stronger pathways toward self-sufficiency.

Explore the research: https://hubs.ly/Q04hsJjM0

Many thanks to our partners and supporters!
The Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC
Bensman Family Foundation
The Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund
Greater Cincinnati Foundation

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

We recently came across this throwback photo featuring the old UC Bearcat mascot alongside some familiar faces, including board members Bill Neyer and John Frank, who are still going strong at the Alpaugh Family Economics Center today! Also pictured is our founding Executive Director, Dr. George Vredeveld, who we were fortunate to have in attendance at our 50th anniversary Annual Awards in April.

Fast forward to this year's Market Madness, and you'll find a sleeker Bearcat, strong leadership in Co-Executive Directors Sue Heilmayer and Brad Evans, and the continued dedication of board member and champion supporter Peter Alpaugh, proving that our commitment to economic education never goes out of style.

We're grateful for Home City Ice and our other dedicated StEP business partners! We wouldn't be able to bring the Student Enterprise Program to thousands of local students without you.

We are proud to support our local community and the next generation.

Our team recently had the opportunity to volunteer with the Susan Sargen StEP program at Oakdale Elementary. 👏

It was a rewarding experience helping over 300 students learn valuable lessons about saving, planning ahead, and donating to wonderful causes like Cincinnati Animal CARE.

Thank you to the The Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC for organizing such an impactful event. 🧊