A PARTNERSHIP FOR FINANCIAL EDUCATION
A GROUNDBREAKING DIGITAL
COURSE FOR EVERY STUDENT.
EVERYWHERE.
CONQUERING THE EPIDEMIC OF FINANCIAL ILLITERACY
The American Pillars Education Foundation is building an interactive, game-based financial education experience designed to prepare students for the real financial decisions they will face throughout their lives.
Together with the Tennessee School Boards Association and AI Educators, we are transforming APEF’s proven high school financial literacy curriculum into an immersive digital course that can reach students regardless of where they live or whether their school has a dedicated personal finance instructor.
THE CHALLENGE
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR A MORE COMPLEX FUTURE
Today’s students are entering a world that demands stronger financial knowledge, greater adaptability, and clearer career direction than ever before, yet many young people graduate without access to the practical skills and experiences needed to confidently navigate adulthood.
Across communities, students often lack:
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Real-world financial literacy related to saving, debt, credit, investing, and decision-making
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Early awareness of meaningful career pathways
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Exposure to professionals and mentors
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Access to internships, apprenticeships, and hands-on learning
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Confidence in how education connects to long-term opportunity
Students deserve more than a requirement.
They deserve an experience that prepares them for life.
That's where APEF steps in.
THE OPPORTUNITY
LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE
The Digital High School Personal Finance Course
Built with AI Educators, a team of award-winning K-12 educators and ed-tech leaders, "Live Your Best Life" reimagines APEF’s proven, standards-aligned curriculum as a single, continuous financial-life simulation spanning all seven curriculum units:
APEF has partnered with the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) to bring this groundbreaking course to life. With extensive experience building and scaling innovative education technology, AI Educators is helping transform APEF’s proven curriculum into an engaging digital experience designed for any classroom, regardless of a teacher’s financial expertise. The course will launch as a statewide beta available to Tennessee public schools at no cost, with plans to expand nationwide.
The result is a rigorous, engaging course designed so that any teacher, not just a finance specialist, can confidently deliver financial education.
INSIDE THE GAME
THE MORE THEY PLAY, THE MORE IT STAYS.
BUILD A CHARACTER,
SET YOUR VALUES
A WEEKLY LOOP,
NOT A SLIDESHOW
The key to success is capturing the students’ attention in the first 30 seconds. First, students create an avatar and choose the value that matters most to them: security, independence, comfort, or time. That choice becomes the lens for every decision that follows, so two students
facing the identical scenario can make entirely different, equally valid choices.
Each week, students read their ledger, do the arithmetic themselves, set a budget, commit to a decision, and watch the consequences play out — an unexpected car repair, a surprise promotion, a new roommate splitting the rent. A class period can hold several of these scenarios, and across a semester, students run 60 or more of them, each one different from the last.
There is no singular path to success in the game, and every decision comes with benefits and consequences. The high-paying job brings more stress. The cheaper apartment means a longer commute. Every trade-off is shaped by real-world preferences. The game is designed as a dynamic system with an unlimited number of possible outcomes.
AI THAT COACHES, NOT ANSWERS
When a student stumbles — financing a car at a punishing rate, missing a payment, walking into a decision blind — a guardrailed AI Coach steps in with a thought-provoking question drawn from that student’s own data: “In October your car broke down and you had no emergency fund. What would you change, and what would that have cost you?” The Coach never supplies the answer. It scaffolds the thinking, so struggling students get real support without losing the productive struggle. This course uses the Socratic method by challenging assumptions — a true game changer!
A CLASSROOM LEADERBOARD, WITHOUT THE RISK
Class-level leaderboards rank among the features students say motivate them most. Ours ranks on savings rate, emergency-fund survival, and alignment with each student’s own stated values — never on raw net worth, and always by codename only. Competition stays inside a group the student actually belongs to, without a single piece of identifying information ever leaving the classroom. Most importantly, this system uses a “closed loop” so that no individual can access a student’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII.)
OUR VISION
THE WORK IS BEING DONE AND WE ARE PREPARING TO LAUNCH!
This project represents a $2,000,000 investment in transforming financial education. First, for every
Tennessee student in the beta test, and eventually students nationwide. That total reflects both the
multi-year curriculum foundation APEF has already built and the digital transformation now underway.
Of that total, APEF has already invested $750,000 in the research, curriculum, national standards
alignment, and instructional planning that underpins this course — work that is complete. TSBA has committed to $250,000.
That leaves a fundraising goal of $1,000,000 to fully fund the digital course’s
development, sustainability, and expansion.
$2 MILLION VISION. $1 MILLION LEFT TO RAISE.
$750,000
Already invested by APEF in research, curriculum, standards alignment, and instructional planning
$250,00
Committed by the Tennessee School Boards Association
$1,000,000
Remaining to fully fund development, sustainability, and expansion
YOUR SUPPORT HELPS TAKE THE COURSE FROM PROVEN CURRICULUM
TO NATIONWIDE IMPACT.
Funding will support the continued development and launch of the digital course, accessibility, technology infrastructure, AI functionality, maintenance, teacher onboarding, program management, evaluation, and future expansion into additional states.
PARTNERSHIP TIERS
Visionary Partner
$400,000+
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Everything in Founding Partner, plus funding to extend the course to additional states beyond Tennessee
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A role in shaping APEF's broader strategic direction, with a standing invitation to leadership briefings and early access to new program concepts
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Recognized as a sustaining partner across all of APEF's national platforms, not a single project
Founding Partner
$250,000+
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"Founding Partner" designation across the full digital course platform
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Funds independent WCAG accessibility certification and the platform sustainability fund covering Year 1+ hosting, AI Coach usage, and content updates
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Co-branding opportunity on course materials
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Top-tier logo placement across all course and launch materials; featured in press and launch announcements
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Dedicated feature in APEF's annual report and stakeholder communications
Unit Partner
$100,000+
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Naming recognition for a full curriculum unit (e.g., "Borrow, presented by Commonwealth")
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Logo placement across that unit's simulation content
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Recognition in press releases and media tied to the course launch
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Custom impact report highlighting reach and engagement
Program Partner
$50,000+
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Logo placement on the course's shared digital recognition screen, seen by every student statewide
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Name recognition in press materials and launch announcements
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Invitation to an exclusive program preview ahead of public launch
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Feature in APEF's digital newsletter
Contributing Partner
$25,000+
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Name recognition on the course's shared digital recognition screen
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Recognition in APEF's annual report and stakeholder communications
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Invitation to program briefings and updates throughout development
Community Partner
$10,000+
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Name recognition in APEF's annual report
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Personal thank-you acknowledgment from APEF leadership
JOIN THE MISSION
For more than a decade, APEF has built the foundation: the standards, the curriculum, the tools,
and the partnerships that prove financial literacy and workforce readiness can reach students at
scale. The framework works. The need has never been greater. What comes next is not building.
It is multiplying.
With your partnership, we can transform that foundation into an engaging digital experience that gives students the opportunity to practice financial decision-making before those decisions become real.
Every classroom we reach means more students entering adulthood prepared to make confident decisions about money, education, and work.
Help us bring this vision to life. To learn more about becoming a partner and helping bring financial education to students across Tennessee and beyond, contact Denise Stumph at dbell@theapef.org.