Jeff Arnold has been named the 2022 Koelbel Enterprising Teacher of the Year. This 35th annual recognition, awarded during National Financial Literacy Month, recognizes exemplary teaching of economic or personal financial education, which provides students with essential skills to use in their personal, professional and civic lives. Jeff Arnold currently teaches U.S. history to eighth-graders and has been a fixture in the Estes Park community and local school district for more than 30 years. Arnold believes no great teacher is ever finished learning and is an advocate for professional development opportunities for the district’s staff. His commitment to furthering his economic education has allowed him to evolve and create lesson plans on wide-ranging and relevant topics like cryptocurrency, foreign trade and tariffs, inflation and government spending. “I'm honored to be named the Koelbel Enterprising Teacher of the Year. A good foundation of economics concepts and a knowledge of Personal Financial Literacy has never been more important than it is now in the United States,” said Jeff Arnold.

The 2023 winner is John Loutzenhiser from Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, Colorado. John is the 36th recipient in a long list of distinguished recipients. John is a business teacher at Elizabeth High School, but has always been passionate about teaching financial literacy, having worked in finance at Merrill Lynch before becoming a teacher. At Elizabeth HS, Mr. Loutzenhiser taught Accounting, Business Foundations, Business Law and Ethics, Finance and Investments, and Business Management and Leadership. He also served as sponsor for the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program and contributed to the adoption of financial literacy as a high school graduation requirement in his district. He also had his students participate in the Stock Market Experience every year to be sure they knew how to invest for their futures. His excitement for the subject was felt by his students, who flocked to his classes to learn all they could about financial literacy and often come back after graduation to tell him how his teaching influenced their financial choices.