University of Wisconsin Extension-Florence County Educator Tierany Rugg presents Caleb Jahns with his $100 Edvest college savings certificate for his account. The extension partnered with Edvest to present the gift to a student during the Florence County Elementary School open house. (Submitted photo)

FLORENCE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin Extension-Florence County partnered with Edvest 529 to gift one Florence County Elementary student a $100 college savings account at the Florence Elementary School open house.

Caleb Jahns was the winner and shared that he wants to be a professional video gamer when he grows up.

With the $100 deposit to start his account, family and friends can now continue to save to help him reach his educational goals.

The UW-Division of Extension Florence County is educating and providing more opportunities for area families to understand why and how to save early for a child or grandchild’s future education.

Extension Educator Tierany Rugg attended the Florence Elementary School open house, where she talked to more than 100 students and parents about their education and career goals.

Why start talking about this in elementary school? Research suggests that children with even a small amount of savings for their future education do better in school and are more likely to pursue education beyond High School.

The goal of this outreach, according to Rugg, is to encourage families to think about saving for a child’s future, no matter what path they might take.

“Saving even a small amount of money for a child’s future helps them know that someone believes in them, whether they use it for college, career training, or another path; it helps them see that their dreams are possible,” she added.

Funds saved in an Edvest 529 account can be withdrawn tax-free for eligible educational expenses, which include tuition, fees and required books and supplies for many types of post-secondary programs, including four-year and two-year public and private colleges nationwide, technical colleges, certificate programs, professional credentials, and registered apprenticeship programs.

To encourage more families to begin saving, Edvest is offering a bonus promotion for new accounts opened now through Sept. 26.

More information go to https://www.edvest.com/bonus25.

To learn more about upcoming programs of University of Wisconsin Extension-Florence County, go to https://florence.extension.wisc.edu/.