June 3, 2019
Indiana Council for Economic Education announces state’s top teachers of economics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE), an academic outreach center within the Department of Agriculture Economics at Purdue University, has announced four finalists and two honorable mention recipients for the statewide 2019 Olin W. Davis Teaching Award.
Recipients are selected based on exemplary classroom projects or units in economic or personal finance instruction, along with letters of recommendation.
Each finalist will receive $500, and each honorable mention recipient will receive $250. All recipients receive a plaque honoring their accomplishments in the field of economic education. The award is sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Foundation.
The awards will be presented at the ICEE’s annual Awards for Excellence Luncheon on in Noblesville on June 19. The state winner will be announced at the luncheon. The finalists are Eric Arcella, Crown Point High School; Kristen Freitag, Michigan City High School; Chris Stevenson, Covenant Christian High School; and Michael Weesner, Career Academy South Bend. Honorable Mention awards will be presented to Jeff Livensparger, Homestead High School, and Amy Riley, Warsaw Community High School.
“The ability to think and reason economically continues to be important in today’s world,” says Jeff Sanson, ICEE executive director. “The finalists for the Olin W. Davis Teaching Award are remarkable in their ability to create learning experiences for their students that make decision-making come alive. Their students get to not only apply the knowledge they gain from other subjects across the curriculum, they get to practice using economics and personal finance to help them make real-world decisions – from managing a household budget to decisions involved in the production and marketing of goods and services.”
The awards luncheon is part of the annual Smart Indiana Economic Education and Financial Literacy Conference. For information about this event, call 765-494-8541, or visit the Calendar section of the ICEE website http://www.econed-in.org/.
About the Olin W. Davis Teaching Award
Professor Olin W. Davis formalized the economic education programs at Purdue University in 1954. Under his leadership, economic education’s sphere of influence grew to impact thousands of Indiana citizens. Davis died in 1970. The Olin W. Davis Awards for Exemplary Teaching of Economics in Indiana is sponsored by the ICEE, which is built on the foundation Davis established and which honors him with this fitting tribute. This annual award is sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Foundation.
About the Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE)
The ICEE is an K-12 academic outreach center within Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics. Established in 1954, it is the lead unit in an 11-institution network of university centers for economic education throughout Indiana. Both the ICEE and the university centers are affiliated with the national Council for Economic Education. The 11 universities, in addition to Purdue, are Ball State University, Indiana State University, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, IU Southeast, IPFW, IUPUI and the University of Southern Indiana.
Writer/Media Contact: Jeff Sanson, ICEE Executive Director, 765-494-0188, jjsanson@purdue.edu
Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;
Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu
