Googolplex
Four days in, 550 vote for the GRAND PRIZE
The $1,000 Grand Prize contest has only been live for four days as of this writing, and already 550 people have voted!
 
The contest runs until Jan. 25, 2012.C-Note visitors of any age can vote once every 24 hours to determine which photo is the best of the seven $100 winners in photo contests held over the past year.
 
Encourage your members age 13 to 19 to enter their photos in the contest theme Unusual Weather We're Having. Deadline is the same as the end of the Grand Prize contest: Jan. 25, 2012.
 
The winner of Unusual Weather We're Having gets a cool $100 and automatic entry in next year's Grand Prize contest for $1,000. Look to your right to see the most recent entry from Carolyn, 14, American Airlines Federal Credit Union, Flower Mound, Texas.
C-Note instant poll results—How do you budget your money?
C-Note teenagers are benefitting from your efforts to provide them good money-managing tools. More than 82% have come up with ways to manage their spending before they shop.
 
Point teenage members to the peer-designed C-Note Budgeting Calculator, based on the kinds of expenses a typical high-school student faces.
 
Here's the poll question* and responses:

How do you budget your money?
 
1. No impulse buying—I think about if I really need it.
2. Put money away in an account where I can’t touch it
3. Use cash, not credit
4. Keep my receipts
5. Budget? What's that?
38%
25%
19%
09%
09%
 
Instant poll questions capture your high school members’ attention. On which issues would you like to learn more about what they think? Use your imagination and send your poll questions with possible responses to Rena Crispin.

* Instant poll results reflect an unscientific sampling of Googolplex readers.

Marketing tip: Use your free newsletters
5-Spot, C-Note, and AJ's newsletter front pages are ready to customize.
 
Use your free newsletters to reach children and teenagers. There are two ways to use the newsletter material that comes free with your subscription:
 
  1. Use the complete, ready-to-print, two-page newsletters. Customize and distribute one, two, or all three levels of the winter 2011-12 newsletter:

    5-Spot (elementary school)
    AJ's (middle school)
    C-Note (high school)
     
  2. Use parts of the newsletters in your in-house newsletter. If you already have an in-house newsletter and don't need the complete pages we provide, you can also make use of:

    • New background images
    Comic strips (requires log in)
    Feature activities (requires log in)
    • Art files and Microsoft Word documents for feature articles (within each level's newsletter)
Access additional art files and Microsoft Word documents by clicking on each of the individual newsletters listed in No. 1 above and using the material in the far right column.
 
With your subscription you get several tools to help you market Googolplex. They're all available from your Googolplex customization and installation page. Rena Crispin, Googolplex's managing editor, at 800-356-9655, ext. 4258, can help you pinpoint the best tools for your situation.
Googolplex is hiring youth
Googolplex is hiring youth!

Googolplex is seeking responsible young people with diverse backgrounds for 12 paid positions on our youth editorial board. No travel is necessary—we welcome applicants from all over the country.

Board membership requires a one-year commitment, starting in June, 2012. Payment is based on age level. Click the images to the right to view this year's youth board members.

Openings are available in three age brackets for the 2012-2013 school year: 

Youth who are a part of the Googolplex editorial board gain numerous benefits, including payment, experience writing consumer-related articles, and opportunities to play credit-union friendly online games. It’s a fantastic way for kids to learn about money while also having fun and getting paid for their time.

If young people are interested in the position, or want more information, have them contact Corey Pratt, Googolplex youth editorial board liaison. Make sure Corey knows what grade level the applicant will be in the fall of 2013:

before Feb. 6, 2012.

Get the word out about the Googolplex youth editorial board by copying this message into your credit union newsletter or by posting links to these articles in 5-Spot, AJ’s, and C-Note on your credit union website.

Think wide: Parents and grandparents are excellent resources to get the word out about the opportunity. Membership on the youth editorial board is also open to credit union employees’ children.

We take privacy seriously and do not display last names or sell information to third parties.

Here's the lineup in Googolplex for January, February, and March 2012.

5-Spot stories

Make Green Stuff From Old Stuff: Kasey, 11, likes to "look for things that have been forgotten or thrown away." He's turned his hobby into a thriving business, and you can too! (yt-2583) 

Gardening: It's Worth the Effort: In this three-part series on why, how, and wow! Maddy, 13, shares with us her secrets to getting the most out of dirt. This story starts with why.

Gardening: Make Your Own Garden: "If I could choose the shape of my garden, I would make it a map of the United States. Then, I could say that I'm planting peas in Florida!" says Maddy, in part 2 of this three-part series on gardening.

5-Spot activities

The Card Whisperer: The Great Googolini has a simple card trick for you...simple, that is, if you believe she can hear you whispering to a computer! Think of a card, then whisper it. Watch in amazement as she pulls it from the deck!

Sonic Math: Are your math skills built for speed? Sonic Math hurls math equations at you for you answer as fast as you can. So get busy--race the clock!

Chatterbox: Meet Chatterbox--the world’s only talking mime! Chatterbox and his friend will keep quiet as you attempt a difficult trivia quiz, but they’ll still help in their own way. Who says mime doesn’t pay?

AJ's stories

Interns Earn Cash and Experience: Have you ever wanted something like a cellphone or a laptop but you didn't have enough money to get it? Lucia, 12, says you may be able to earn money, and more, with an internship.

Skateboarding for Life: Whether or not you dream of competing professionally in the competitive world of skateboarding, Adam tells you how to skateboard for life.

Money Like History: Find out why the portraits on our bills are pretty much the same designs as 75 years ago.

AJ's activities

Bamboozled: There are more than 3,800 words in the English language with a double-o. Can you identify these double-o answers without getting bamboozled?

Get It for Granny: Granny just sent you to her labyrinth of a cellar to retrieve a thing or two. Before you can get it, you must navigate her cellar--it's not your typical mazes, but then again Granny’s cellar is anything but typical.

rps, omg! These are modern times. Are you still playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with your hands? Get with it, and try this online version of rps.

C-Note stories

Make Your Money Work in a Roth IRA: Hannah, 15, asks, “Where do you want to be in 60 years?” Planning ahead that far seems impossible, but let Hannah explain why you should think about opening a Roth IRA and take advantage of compound interest now.

Travel on the Cheap: A European Adventure: Kelsey shares what she learned about traveling on the cheap while planning, organizing, and traveling in Europe for three weeks with two friends. “It was the trip of a lifetime!” she says.

Comics Make a Good Living: "In comics," says author Mike Baron, "you can make a good living as a freelancer. You choose your own hours, you live wherever you want, and you are free to let your artistic vision soar." You also have responsibilities...

C-Note activities

Three of a Kind: Caution: You are about to pass through a vocabulary vortex into a world where all you get is a set of three words that don’t really go together...unless you can discover a fourth dimension that connects with each.

$88,333 a Second: What cost $88,333 a second in 2010? An ad during the Super Bowl. Take this quiz and you’ll never look at another ad the same way again!

It Came from the Classroom: Students aren’t the only ones who get tired in class. Before the days of Blu-Ray or even video, your parents and grandparents had to sit through some of the strangest educational films ever made. You tell us...is this movie for real?

Copy & Art Express™ (CARTX) subscribers—The number in parentheses after a summary is the item number of a shorter version of the article available in CARTX. To locate the article, enter the number in the key word search.
Links to Recent Releases
Here are the links to the feature items students saw in December 2011:

5-Spot activity

I Want Candy!
You love your new job at the Chocolate Factory, but the candy never stops coming! How much can you earn before clogging the conveyor?

5-Spot story

Fix it Quick!
Crayon on the wall? Caitlin, 12, shares her home solutions that might even make you end up looking like a hero!

AJ's activity

HB2U
Use these high-tech utilities to learn amazing facts about YOUR birthday.

AJ's story

Make Money With Photos
It's expensive to own the right equipment, but, "If you get really good at taking pictures, you could become a professional photographer," says Sydney, 14. Let her show you how.

C-Note activity

Weekend Logic
Saturday afternoon at the soccer field presents you with a puzzle--who just passed to whom?

C-Note story

Take Action Against the Dreaded Freshman 15
You've heard all about it, and it sounds scary. But you CAN avoid the dreaded "Freshman 15"! Hannah, 18, just finished her freshman year and she says, "It’s a lot easier than you think!"

Give youth print and online newsletters!

Every quarter we send you enough ready-to-print pages to create three full newsletters— one for elementary-school, middle-school, and high-school level readers. We provide newsletters in high resolution for print, and low resolution for email or online viewing.

Here’s how you get it:

To retrieve the ready-to-print, ready-to-view newsletter pages each quarter, log in to your Googolplex newsletter page, select the pages you need, and download them free of charge.

Don’t waste your subscription
 
Whenever you change your credit union Web address or logo, check your Googolplex customization. Make sure your links and credit union logo are what you want by logging in to your Googolplex Customizing and Installation page.
 
If you have technical or subscription questions, or need help in setting up your password, please email Debbie Michels, or call 800-356-9655, ext. 4091.

If you have questions, comments, or ideas for Googolplex editorial content, please email Rena Crispin or call 800-356-9655, ext. 4258.

We respect your privacy. If you’d rather not receive future emails on Googolplex, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
 
This email was sent on behalf of
Credit Union National Association (CUNA)
5710 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI 53705.

 
In This Issue
Winter Newsletters
$1,000 Grand Prize
Instant Poll Results
Marketing Tip
Googolplex is Hiring
What's Coming
Recent Releases
Customize
Promote to Members
Retrieve Password
Contact Us
Save up to 70% on ICU Day items
 
 
Use these bargains as:
  • Board member gifts
  • International Year of Cooperatives events
  • Staff stocking stuffers
  • Member appreciation tokens
  • Holiday party favors
 
National Financial
Capability Challenge
 
 
The National Financial Capability Challenge is designed to increase the financial capability of high school students so they can take control over their financial futures.
 
Let your members know about this opportunity!
 
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I’d love to hear how you promote Googolplex to your members and potential members. Please contact me—I look forward to your comments!

Rena Crispin
Credit Union National Association (CUNA)
5710 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI 53705
608-231-4258
rcrispin@cuna.coop
CUNA Anytime Adviser

5710 Mineral Point Rd Madison, WI 53705-4454 800-356-8010, press 3 cunaresources@cuna.coop

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