The UMW Center for Economic Education has received a grant from the Council for Economic Education and State Farm to fund learning opportunities for area teachers and students. The $2,900 grant, the first external grant for the newly formed center, will provide training workshops for more than a dozen local educators.

Because of the grant, made available through the generous support of State Farm and the Council for Economic Education, UMW’s Center for Economic Education will train 20 Spotsylvania County teachers this summer who will teach the new economics and personal finance course. The course is a new Virginia high school graduation requirement.

The Council for Economic Education is an organization focused on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school through professional development opportunities, educational resources and assessment tools.

The UMW Center for Economic Education was established in 2011 as part of the Virginia Council on Economic Education. The VCEE works in partnership with colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia through a statewide network of university-based centers for economic education. The mission of the UMW Center for Economic Education is to build ongoing partnerships with the region’s school divisions and their teachers, provide professional development workshops for teachers and provide creative, hands-on lesson plans, curriculum and programs for students. These efforts are with the goal of effectively infusing economic and financial education in grades K-12 to promote economic and financial literacy.  For more information, contact Margaret Ray, professor of economics, at (540) 654-1485.