Giving It the Good ‘Ol Grade School Try
Jaki Gordon '03

Students in Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery County are learning what it really means to put their money where their mouth is, as Villanova’s economics department “invests” their efforts in pre-college programs for economic advancement.

In November of 1998, Villanova University partnered with the National Council of Economic Education to create a program that stimulated an interest for economics in regional schools. With Villanova’s Visiting Professor John Coughlan as director, it was hoped that the program, the Villanova University Center for Economic Education (VUCEE), would not only give students insight into economic applications, but that it also would give the university an avenue for future activities in conjunction with the National Council. Three years later, Villanova has successfully achieved this goal. With over 400 students involved in the organization, both at grade school and high school levels, the VUCEE has received a tremendous response to their wide variety of economically-oriented events.

The mission of the National Council is to provide economic leadership and assistance to communities across the nation, but the VUCEE has gone above and beyond the call of duty, offering educators and students a vast array of economic programs via Villanova’s beautiful campus. Dr. Coughlan has hosted several full day workshops and three-day curriculum training courses for teams of history, mathematics, science and social studies teachers. Some seminars presented educators with lists of economics reasoning concepts to analyze U.S. history, while others featured hands-on classroom lessons designed to supplement the teaching of investment and financial decision making: “The VUCEE provides school districts with the newest of resource materials,” said Dr. Coughlan. “…and it is because of these economic training techniques that we are developing a more economically literate community.”

With the need for new economic knowledge comes a need for new methods of educating America’s youth. One method the VUCEE used to arouse interest was the Citizen Bee, a competition in which grade school and high school students were tested on their understanding of U.S. History, government, geography, and, of course, economics. While this event’s competitive edge urged the students to attain a greater knowledge of the American heritage, it simultaneously helped them to build effective citizenship.

Another successful event organized by the VUCEE was the Stock Market Game. In this team-building competition, groups of students were given imaginary funds to invest and monitor against the actual market’s performance. Because they had to pay a transaction fee every time they bought or sold their stocks, the event taught the students how to be fiscally responsible in their investment decisions. At the end of the term, the students who made the greatest profit attended an awards ceremony in which they were able to report on their stock market strategies and accept their certificates of achievement.  “I have seen the way the students react, and they are excited about it,” Dr. Coughlan stated.  “There is no better way to educate students in the economic industry than by engaging them in the very essence of it.”

While the VUCEE continues to increase the quality of student performance in regional schools, the university continues to increase its efforts at expanding the program’s capabilities: “We are taking this opportunity, having been in the program for a few years, to really evaluate where we should be going from here,” remarked Dr. Coughlan. “And I do not see any reason why the program would go anywhere but grow larger.”

The VUCEE’s primary motivation is to serve the local community through academic advancement. Not only do they want to inspire students to become economically knowledgeable, they also want to encourage them to “invest” in the biggest venture of all: a college education.