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ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 20, 2014 – Adam W. Zupkoff, who teaches at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., is the 2014 InVEST Teacher of the Year Award. The program is a key driver to attract new talent to the insurance industry.
“Great teachers, like Adam Zupkoff, are the backbone of the InVEST program which provides much needed financial literacy education and is critical for the success of the industry,” says Robert G. Slocum, CPCU, CIC, InVEST board chair and president of The Slocum Agency, Inc., an independent agency in Warwick, R.I. “Mr. Zupkoff’s dedication to his students and InVEST has resulted in a wonderfully successful program at Dr. Phillips High School. We are honored to present him with this year’s InVEST Program Teacher of the Year award.”
Zupkoff has taught high school for 20 years, including 15 years on the Dr. Phillips High School faculty. A popular teacher, he was secretly nominated by his students. He earned a bachelor's degree at Bentley College and a master’s in education at Nova Southeastern University. Additionally, he earned the highest teacher certification level from the National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). Zupkoff, an eternal student, has also taken courses at St. Johns University’s Insurance Education Institute for Middle School and High School Teachers and all the teacher programs offered by the Foundation for Teaching Economics.
“The future of our industry is contingent on attracting new talent and InVEST is a major part of this development,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “Dedicated educators like Adam W. Zupkoff are critical and we’re so grateful that they continue stepping up to train, inspire and teach the next generation of industry leaders.”
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and colleges. The high school curriculum is a business-education program that utilizes a hands-on approach which simulates an insurance agency and company operations to prepare students for various business careers and create more knowledgeable insurance consumers. At the college level, InVEST is an information-intensive curriculum of risk management and financial services. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to www.investprogram.org.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of approximately a quarter of a million agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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