Contact: Sammy McDavid
Special training and development programs for elementary and high school students and teachers are being planned during July by Mississippi State's new Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy.
From Tuesday to Friday [July 6-9], the center is sponsoring BOSS, an acronym for Business Opportunities for Success School. The university day camp is designed especially for ninth-grade students in the Oktibbeha County School District.
On July 14 and 15, a free teacher workshop held in collaboration with the Federal Reserve banks of Atlanta, Ga., and St. Louis, Mo., will introduce innovative techniques for high school economics instruction.
Established last year and housed in the department of finance and economics, the MSU-based center is the only one of its kind in the state affiliated with the National Council on Economic Education, said Paul Grimes, head of the department and center director.
"BOSS Camp is being made possible this year by a grant from 'GEAR UP MS,' a collaborative effort of the state boards of trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning and Community Colleges, along with the state Department of Education, and various organizations and community groups," he explained.
Meghan Millea, the center's associate director, said county school system teachers will assist university instructors with the camp sessions.
"'Entrepreneurship' will be our theme for the week, and we have lots of interesting lessons and field trips planned," the associate professor of economics said. "In addition to finance and economics, the ninth-graders will cover all the major functional areas of business, including accounting, management, marketing, and computer skills."
Faculty colleagues in other College of Business and Industry teaching areas will assist Grimes, Millea and others in finance and economics with BOSS programs.
At the teacher workshop the following week, elementary and high school instructors will spend the first day honing economics-focused classroom skills. Presentations by Federal Reserve research and policy economists will dominate the second day's activities.
Grimes said the teachers completing the training will be eligible for continuing education credit at MSU, also at no charge.
"For some time, officials of the Fed have wanted us to conduct a program of this type in Mississippi and we are happy to join in this partnership for the benefit of K-12 teachers," Grimes said.
Grimes said the center's staff is planning a second year of outreach programs and projects that will be more active than those of the inaugural 2003-04 school term.
"We had a very successful first year," he said, citing a series of one-day workshops held from Tupelo to Long Beach, numerous presentations at teacher conferences and meetings, and the free distribution of thousands of dollars in curriculum materials on economics instruction.
In addition to the National Council on Economic Education, funding for these activities was provided through the Mississippi Council on Economic Education with grants from the Mississippi Power Education and Lower Pearl River Valley foundations.
For additional information on current and future Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy programs, contact Grimes at (662) 325-1987 or Paul Grimes.