North Carolina HS Students Get Finance Education Thanks to Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has been known to contribute his money to different causes and charities, especially right here in North Carolina. The six-time NBA champion and part owner of the Charlotte Hornets, is even ensuring the future of young high school students with financial literacy!

According to a news release, Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand has issued a grant that will allow nearly a half million high school students to take a personal finance course. The grant is being handled by Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit organization, and will fund students in several locations.

"We are amazed by the generosity of Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand, which will increase access to this essential course and build financial capability for the next generation," said NGPF Co-Founder Tim Ranzetta.

Students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Guilford County Schools (Greensboro) in North Carolina, as well as New York City Public Schools, Philadelphia Financial Scholars, Atlanta's Fulton County Schools and Detroit Public Schools Community District, will receive the funding from the Michael Jordan grant.

"These school systems were chosen not only because of their large number of students," the release said. "But also because the percentage of Black and Hispanic students ranges from 56-95 percent, furthering the impact of the grant."

The release said that funds support a dedicated Personal Finance Specialist, who will work locally to provide curriculum support and professional development to teachers in their district with ongoing assistance from NGPF.

"Additionally, the Jordan grant provides for extras such as an expansion of NGPF's online curriculum offerings and the creation of student investment clubs coordinated via the personal finance specialists in cooperation with teachers."

"This grant has the opportunity to change the financial trajectory of historically excluded communities across the United States," said Tori Mansfield, NGPF's Senior Program Manager, who leads this grant initiative. "Students will graduate understanding how to maintain good credit, invest in the stock market, and prepare financially for life after high school."

Things have been stressful the last few years, so it would make some sense that North Carolina wouldn't necessarily be the happiest state in the country.

And while things are certainly not TERRIBLE here, North Carolina only comes in as the 20th happiest state in America, according to a recent study from our friends at WalletHub.

"To determine where Americans exhibit the best combination of these factors, we examined the 50 states across 30 key metrics, ranging from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling productive to income growth and the unemployment rate," WalletHub said in the study.

When you dive into the data, you feel the middle-of-the-pack Eeyore-like happiness we are experiencing here. Here's where North Carolina ranked among the 50 states in a number of key metrics, with 1 being the happiest and 25 being average:

The good people of Hawaii ranked as the happiest in the country, and why wouldn't they? And the least happy state? Well, that goes to West Virginia, where economic impacts have kept things feeling pretty rough for a while now.

"Research suggests that having more money is associated with greater happiness on average - but only to a certain extent," Dr. Emily C. Willroth, Assistant Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences – Washington University in St. Louis told WalletHub. "Above a certain income level, income and happiness are less strongly related. This might suggest that money can buy happiness when it is used to meet basic needs and remove financial strain. Beyond that, money may be less important for happiness."

So what does the rest of the country look like? We take a dive through the rankings here to show you the top and the bottom of the list of the happiest states in the country, where North Carolina came in at No. 20 overall.

This one seems obvious, with the good folks on the islands having the top scores in Emotional & Physical Well Being, playing a big part.

Thanks to high scores in Community & Environment, Maryland isn't far behind Hawaii.

Sure, it's really cold up there, but loads of work opportunities and great community makes for a happy place.

The best work environment and community aspects in the country make up for some of the other shortfalls in Utah.

While New Jersey may rank a little low on work and community aspects, being near the top in emotional and physical well being certainly helped.

Similar to their nearby neighbors in Utah, Idaho has a great work and community environment, which makes up for a low emotional score.

Solid numbers all across the board helps make California one of the happiest places.

A 3 rank in Emotional & Physical Well Being was huge in helping Illinois overcome bad scores elsewhere.

If you're a fan of the open plains, and corn, the happy folks in Nebraska are just your type.

Connecticut gets some bonus points for healthy people, and that makes up for some lower community scoring.

There's still plenty of happiness in all these states, so we'll pick happy images to represent them.

You'll notice a pattern here with the bottom ranked states, like Missouri, they all have terrible scores in Emotional & Physical Well Being.

New Mexico is also hurt by a bad work environment score.

While Tennessee is middle of the pack in work environment, it doesn't fare well in emotional well being, or community and environment.

Oklahoma has a great 12 ranking in community and environment, but some dreadful scores everywhere else.

The worst state in the country for Work Environment makes for a pretty low ranking down on the Delta.

It appears that having the best college football team in all the land year in and year out isn't enough to make up for some rough health and community marks.

The folks in Kentucky are struggling with mental and emotional well being it seems, and also a lack of work opportunities.

They mean well, don't they?

The best food in the country can't make up for a terrible work environment, and the associated Southern health issues.

As we mentioned earlier, bad marks all around doomed West Virginia, particularly when it comes to mental and physical health.