M.H. Russell Center for Economic Education

The M. H. Russell Center for Economic Education is a public service branch of Henderson State University. Certified by the Council on Economic Education, the center coordinates with the Economics Arkansas to provide programs designed to encourage an economic way of thinking and problem solving on the part of educators, so that they in turn, can encourage their students to use that understanding in their everyday lives.
The office of the M. H. Russell Center for Economic Education is housed within Teachers College, Henderson in the Education Building.

ECONOMICS FAIR 2011 for students SATURDAY, APRIL 30*

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Teams of four students in grades 3-8 will compete against teams in the same grade from around the state in the five areas of competition described. Prizes are awarded at each grade level for all events. All participants will receive a T-shirt included in the $10 per student registration fee. Lunch may be purchased for $5.00. Registration form and payment must be received by April 8.

AREAS OF COMPETITION (Click on title of competition to see judging criteria.)

NEW!! Economics In the News OR Lessons from Literature

Teams from grades 3 and 4 will give a short oral presentation which describes economic concepts learned in their class using a selected children’s literature book from the list provided. Teams from grades 5 and above will base their presentation on a current event. One student will give a one-minute presentation, then judges will ask four questions (one per team member) related to the book or to the current event and related economic concepts provided below. Optional: a poster board visual may be used to accompany the presentation.

Produce A Product

Each team will be given a bag of identical resources that have not been previously disclosed. They will be instructed to "create a product" from those resources. Teams will then go before a panel of judges to “sell” their product: name the product, give its price, and tell what is does or how it is used.

Economic Concepts Test

Four team members will individually take an economics test based on grade level economics standards. From those four scores, the team's average score will be determined. Teams with highest scores will be declared winners in the testing competition.

Design T-Shirt Logo

Each team will design an economics logo. Teams will be given identical "art" resources. First place winners from each grade will compete for overall winner. The overall winning team's logo will then be placed on the T-shirts for the next year.

Economics Fun Run

Students will compete in a relay race in which one team member will run to a designated location to answer an economics question, then "hand-off" to another team member who will run to another station, etc. Competition is based on speed and the number of correct answers