3M Economic Educator Awards Winners 2011
3M Economic Educator Awards 2011
Twelve teachers were recognized at the Econ Illinois Economic Education Day luncheon on October 25. Winners of the 2011 3M Economic Educator Awards were lauded for their outstanding commitment to economic education. The award luncheon, sponsored by 3M, was held at the Union League Club of Chicago following a reception for honorees, their guests and Econ Illinois board members.
Outstanding Economic Educator Award winners
Criteria for the Outstanding Economic Educator award: A long-standing commitment to teaching economics in the classroom; promoting economic education in their school and district; continuous involvement in professional development programs and student-based programs enhancing economic education. Teachers receive a plaque, a cash award, and participation in a unique professional development seminar. The winner's school receives a grant to promote economic education in the school's curriculum.
Lawrence Leck, ROE Alternative Program of Lake County, Zion
Lawrence Leck teaches at the ROE Alternative Program of Lake County, a high school where students are getting a “last chance” to find focus and direction in their lives after being dismissed from their local high schools. Recognizing the need for these students to learn the true cost of their decisions and the importance of each of them being financially literate when leaving school, Larry initiated both a Personal Finance class and an Entrepreneurship course at the school.
He has also involved his students in The Stock Market Game and in the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge. For the past two years, Larry has had teams qualify for the state finals of the Personal Finance Challenge. The impact of that achievement is reflected in the words of one of his students: “I found that I can be a winner and hang with the winners.” Larry knows that the programs he offers his students help them learn to work together, to believe in themselves again and develop self-confidence. They come to realize they are competent and decent young people who have made some wrong choices, but have the same skills and the same potential as their fellow students at schools throughout the state.
Larry accepted his award with ROE Alternative Program principal, Michael Munda. Presenting are Econ Illinois president Joanne Dempsey, Bill Veeninga, 3M and Bill Testa, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
The ROE Alternative Program is located within the Dominican University Center for Economic Education service area.
Leslie Virtue, Scales Mound High School
Les Virtue teaches at what is likely one of the smallest high schools in the state of Illinois. Scales Mound High School has a total enrollment of 80 students. Yet the impact Les has had on students there is anything but small.
Recognizing the need to help students in this rural area leave with the skills to be financially independent, Les added a dual-credit economics course to the curriculum and engaged his students in numerous Econ Illinois programs, including The Stock Market Game, the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge, the Illinois Economics Challenge, and InvestWrite, as well as the national Financial Capability Challenge sponsored by the U.S. Treasury and Education Departments. He constantly strives to help students see the applications of what they are learning to the world around them, and to recognize how that knowledge can provide them with a better future.
Scales Mound proudly proclaims they are “At the top of Illinois in Education” – and that is not just because they sit on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Their students consistently exceed average scores on the PSAE and ISAT tests by a significant margin. There is little doubt that the teaching skills of Les Virtue have contributed to that achievement.
Les accepted his award with Scales Mound Community Unit School District 211 superintendent Steven Bianchetta. Presenting are Econ Illinois president Joanne Dempsey, Bill Veeninga, 3M and Bill Testa, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Scales Mound High School is located within the Northern Illinois University Center for Economic Education service area.
Stars in the Classroom
Criteria for Stars in the Classroom: Effective implementation of Econ Illinois programs in the classroom, helping students learn more about our economy and their roles as workers, consumers, investors and voting citizens. The award includes a certificate of recognition and a cash award.
Stars in the Classroom award recognizes ten teachers each year who have done an outstanding job of bringing the Council's signature economic education programs into their classrooms to benefit their students. The teachers and their students have been winners in our Economics Poster Contest, The Stock Market Game, Personal Finance Challenge or Economics Challenge in the past academic year, or they have participated in the international study tour program. They represent schools from around the state.
- David Burke, Highland Park High School
- Marti Dunker, Quincy Area Vocational Center (not in photo)
- Carita Hall, High Point Elementary School, Orland Park
- Wendy Hegarty, Lincoln Way East High School, Frankfort
- Rose Kaspar, Holy Ghost School, Wood Dale
- Joan Kane, Whitney Young Magnet High School, Chicago
- Janet Kuo, Fry Elementary School, Naperville
- Robert Montgomery, Morrisonville Jr/Sr High School
- Laura Raineri, Isaac Fox Elementary School, Lake Zurich
- Peg Seaman, Victor J Andrew High School, Tinley Park