Our mission:
Economics Education aims to create, improve, and support K-12 economics education programs for Utah students by helping teachers learn economics and by providing methods and material for teaching it effectively.

CAREERS IN ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Economics is an area that is becoming more attractive to private industry as companies try to design domestic and international marketing strategies. To do this, they need a good, solid understanding of how consumers and producers make decisions. Economists collect and analyze data. These men and women study the trends and statistics that affect the economy, thereby impacting the decisions of a company and the marketing direction it might take.

Careers in economics include, but are not limited to:

Economics: Economist, Government or City Planner, Researcher, Analyst
Small businesses create most of the nation’s net new jobs. There are nearly 26 million small businesses in the U.S. with 236,000 of those in Utah. However, being an entrepreneur doesn’t come without risk. Nationwide, ten percent of small businesses close each year. In 2006, 148 small businesses in Utah went bankrupt. Over 50 percent of the small businesses in the U. S. and in Utah are owned by women.

Careers in entrepreneurship include, but are not limited to:

Entrepreneur: Business Owner, Venture Capitalist, Inventor

Our vision is an educational environment in Utah where students’ K-12 learning experience will provide an understanding of economics sufficient to make informed choices as consumers, producers, and citizens.

OUR GOAL
To teach Utah K-12 students to apply the “Economic Way of Thinking” to career, financial, societal, and personal decisions.

• People choose.
• People’s choices involve costs.
• People’s choices have consequences that may be immediate or lie in the future.
• People respond to incentives in predictable ways.
• People create economic systems that influence individual choices and incentives.
• People gain when they trade voluntarily.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS
Economics/Entrepreneurship students who want to participate in a leadership organization can choose Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) or DECA.

• www.fbla-pbl.org
• www.deca.org

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Utah’s Riverton High School received the national 2008 first place recognition in the Capitol Hill Challenge category of the Stock Market Game™ Worldwide.

PROGRAMS

• Economic Challenge
  Utah economics students participate in individual, group, and college-bowl competition at the Advanced Placement and traditional course levels.
• International Economic Summit
  Student teams research international trade, current events, economics, culture, and markets, culminating in a statewide international summit event and competition.
• National EntrepreneurshipWeekUSA!
  A week newly designated by Congress as an annual window for highlighting entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship programs and education across America.
• Stock Market Game™ Worldwide
  Online, real-market student learning simulation supported by curriculum and teacher training.
• Utah Jump$tart for Youth Financial Literacy
  The Utah Jump$tart program seeks to educate Utah K-12 students, thereby helping them to successfully navigate the myriad of choices in today’s financial markets.
• Youth Entrepreneurship
  Competitions, surveys, curriculum, and teacher training are provided to enhance and encourage entrepreneurship education.

CAREER PREPARATION/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A better understanding of personal finance will help students move into adulthood making more informed monetary decisions, realizing a greater potential for personal wealth, and fostering a stronger state and national economy. Economic education provides essential background and preparation for professional careers.

In 2008-2009, 567 students were awarded a CTE Skill Certificate in Economics and Entrepreneurship, indicating a high level of performance.

STATE AND LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS
Junior Achievement
Small Business Development Centers
Utah Bankers Association
Utah Council on Economic Education
Utah Department of Economic Development
Utah Division of Securities
Utah Jump$tart Coalition
Utah League of Credit Unions

Updated January 22, 2010