2020 News Stories

Gus A. Stavros Center receives gift from State Farm to support financial literacy education programs

TAMPA, Fla. (March 4, 2020) — The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education received a $20,000 gift from State Farm to support the Center’s K-12 economics education professional development programs. 

State Farm began its partnership with the Stavros Center in 2010 to help promote financial literacy education within K-12 schools. Over the past decade, State Farm has provided more than $180,000 in financial support to the Center’s special programs and initiatives, including workshops and seminars exclusively for K-12 teachers. A presentation of the company’s most recent gift was made at a financial literacy workshop at the Stavros Center on Tuesday evening.

“The fact that the Stavros Center has received funding support from State Farm for the past 10 years is evidence of the company’s strong commitment to promoting financial literacy in our region,” said Dick J. Puglisi, PhD, professor and director of the Stavros Center. “State Farm’s continued partnership with our Center underscores the company’s commitment to promoting economics education throughout the six school districts in the Tampa Bay region.”

The Stavros Center works with educators and school district leaders from Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota county school districts to provide teacher training programs, curricula development efforts and other strategies to infuse free enterprise and consumer economics concepts into the classroom. Throughout its more than 40-years of operation at USF, the Stavros Center has been recognized for excellence in economic education at the local, state and national levels.

“State Farm is proud to support the Stavros Center work in educating and empowering K-12 teachers to creatively teach financial literacy to students,” said Jose Soto, State Farm Corporate Responsibility Analyst. “The professors at the Stavros Center go out of their way to make the workshops and seminars fun for the educators and also provide lots of practical tools and lessons plans that the teachers can easily implement in their classrooms."

In 2019, legislation was passed in the state of Florida that requires every school district in the state of Florida to offer financial literacy curriculum to its students, and the gift provided by State Farm will allow the Stavros Center to continue its work in equipping educators across the Tampa Bay region with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively teach financial literacy concepts in their classrooms.

“State Farm’s continued support of the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education empowers us to provide training and resources to hundreds of educators across the Tampa Bay region,” said Robert C. Knoeppel, PhD, Dean of the College of Education. “The College of Education truly values State Farm’s support in the Stavros Center’s efforts to elevate financial literacy instruction in classrooms throughout the area.”

To learn more about the work of the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education, visit www.usf.edu/stavros.  

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About the University of South Florida:
The University of South Florida, established in 1956 and located in Tampa, is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. The USF System includes three separately accredited institutions: USF, USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee. Serving more than 50,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.8 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF ranks in the top 25 nationally for research expenditures among public universities, according to the National Science Foundation. In 2018, the Florida Board of Governors designated USF as a Preeminent State Research University, placing USF in the most elite category among the state’s 12 public universities. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.

About State Farm®:
The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its nearly 19,000 agents and approximately 58,000 employees serve approximately 83 million policies and accounts – approximately 81 million auto, fire, life, health and commercial policies and approximately 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 36 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.