University of Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari announced a new initiative Thursday afternoon to bring financial literacy education to children across the Bluegrass with an engaging, interactive game for kids from 4th to 6th grade.Accompanied by Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, Congressman Hal Rogers, Congressman Ben Chandler, UK President Eli Capilouto and EverFi CEO Tom Davidson, Calipari talked about what the initiative means and what it will bring to the youth of the state.”This has been a vision that my wife Ellen and I have held for several years, and we are excited to be launching a program that will focus on teaching young children the value of saving,” Calipari said in a news release. “I applaud the local banks here in Kentucky who have made this possible and encourage others to join me in this endeavor. Together, we are empowering children to cultivate good financial habits that will stay with them throughout their lives.”The Calipari Family Foundation for Children is partnering with local banks and EverFi, Inc., to provide the Vault™ Understanding Money online learning program to hundreds of elementary schools across the state in the coming year. Congressman Rogers said the information will be processed even further by the youth because of the way the literacy program is set up — an interactive game where kids can personalize the video game’s characters, answer questions and tweet out information.”I think utilizing the new methods of communication, and plugging into these young peoples’ almost inherent understanding of this new information age that we’re in, talking to them in their language, on their medium, will have important and profound impacts,” Rogers said.Davidson and EverFi, Inc., self-described as the leading education technology platform company to teach, assess and certify students in critical skills, including financial literacy, are excited about the partnership with Calipari and in bringing this literacy program to Kentucky.”I think this will be one of the most important policy initiatives that comes out of the state of Kentucky for a long time,” Davidson said. “I think the compounding effect of this knowledge is going to be so interesting to watch in five years, six years. These students who become certified in financial literacy and spread it throughout their communities are eventually going to become entrepreneurs, borrowers and lenders in our community.”The Calipari Family Foundation for Children is dedicated to the betterment of the lives of the underprivileged children in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and also in Memphis, Tenn., where the foundation was started.