FINANCIAL FOOTBALL at East Greenwich High School - Pats defeat the Dolphins!

Secretary Mollis, Jump$tart Coalition, 2014 Teacher of the Year and East Greenwich High Students Team Up to Tackle Financial Literacy

East Greenwich, RI – The Patriots defeated the Dolphins by a score of 8 to 0 in a rousing game of “Financial Football,” which was played by East Greenwich high school students who took sides to promote personal financial literacy throughout Rhode Island.

Financial Football, a free educational video game created by Visa in partnership with the NFL, allows players to pick their favorite team and score first downs and touchdowns for correctly answering personal financial questions.  The program is promoted in Rhode Island by Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis and the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

2014 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year and East Greenwich High business educator, Patricia Page’s personal finance students planned the public program that previewed the NFL’s Week 8 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.  

Students divided evenly at random as either Pats or Dolphins and wore outfits representing their teams.  The students’ program came complete with team captains, coaches, a commissioner, and even a modest “tailgate party” after the game.

The twenty-minute competition was close.  The “visiting” Dolphins won the coin toss, elected to receive the ball and proceeded to move down the field, correctly answering questions involving insurance policies, credit cards, and investments.  They made it into the “red zone,” but failed to score before time ran out.  The score was tied 0-0 at the half.  The Patriots’ key to victory was that they worked quickly scoring a touchdown and then converted a risky, yet successful two-point conversion that clinched their win.

Student, Andrew Miner who plays quarterback on the actual East Greenwich football team and is an exemplary scholar, described the goal of the event as, “A great opportunity to be creative and hopefully get more people playing Financial Football around Rhode Island.”  Miner served as captain for the Patriots, while Chris Sgrignari, also a football player at East Greenwich was captain for the Dolphins.  Sgrignari who didn’t take his team’s loss too hard, said, “Nobody really loses a game of financial football.  Every time I play, I learn something new.”

The students had no trouble enlisting their assistant principal, Timothy Chace to “coach” the pretend Patriots team, and surprisingly didn’t have to look far to find a Dolphins coach, as the school’s athletic director, Christopher Cobain is a life-long fan of the Miami football team.  Assistant principal Chace said, “Financial football is a lot of fun and what I’m most proud of today is that our students created an event with the intention of increasing awareness about the importance of financial literacy throughout the Ocean State.”

"I enjoy any opportunity to talk to young people about personal finance. 'Financial Football' turns important lessons about money management into a fun activity for family and friends," said Secretary Mollis, who was named 'Honorary Commissioner of the East Greenwich Financial Football League at the event.  "Financial lessons learned today, benefits students for the rest of their lives. Keeping the Pats on top is something we can all partake in and is a great educational expression of our support for our home team, of which I am a fan!"

All can play at:  www.rhodeisland.financialfootball.com

As your Secretary of State, I am committed to making it easier to vote, making it easier to do business in Rhode Island, preserving our history and making government more open and accessible.  Please visit our website at www.sos.ri.gov.

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