Vol. 17, No. 34June 11, 1998

Students show creativity in economics

Young students get involved in economics in a meaningful way.

Martha Carper, wife of the governor, worried out loud that she might be asked to judge the third-graders because- since her son was in that group- she'd have to decline. Carper was one of dozens of moms helping Jim O'Neill and Bonnie Meszaros of the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship (CEEE) coordinate the Meaningful Economics Competition (ME*), held on campus, June 2.

For the competition's 12th and biggest year, elementary schools from across the state sent 84 teams made up of 348 third- to sixth-graders to UD to test their knowledge of and skills in the principles of economics.

Children, teachers and parents are always an integral part of the day, during which the kids take a written test about the principles of economics. They also were asked to come up with a brand new product and to problem solve by reworking an obsolete product into something viable. This year, it was plastic six-pack holders that were banned because of environmental concerns.

First- through fourth-place winners of each competition in each grade level were announced after lunch.

The ME* Competition was the brainchild of Meszaros, who was looking for a way to motivate and reward Delaware teachers, students and school districts for incorporating the study of economics into their curricula. Now, teachers from as far away as Alaska and Arkansas, who took the master of instruction course offered by CEEE, have their own ME* competitions patterned after Delaware's.

The competition has been a self-sustaining CEEE activity until this year, when the Bernard A. Bernard and Rebecca S. Bernard Foundation underwrote the event. Joan and William Bernard were judges in the problem-solving competition.

-Barbara Garrison
Photo by Robert Cohen