Teachers give students lessons in economics

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Kevin Latifi is good with numbers, making him the perfect candidate to fill the shoes of tax collector in Jamie Garner's sixth-grade class.

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The Walnut Elementary School classroom is one of several "minisocieties" in Turlock, Calif., schools. Every one of Garner's 30 students has a job, earns a salary, gets bonuses (for such things as keeping a clean desk), earns fines (for things like talking during lessons) and pays taxes.

Throughout the year, students fill out ledgers, practicing their addition, subtraction and decimals. They also learn why they should keep track and save their mock money.

Kevin, 12, earns $20 a week as tax collector. He collects 20 percent of what everyone makes each week. He said the minisociety helps prepare his classmates for life as adults when they live on their own.

"It helps me understand it a little better," he said. "At first, I didn't understand why we have taxes. Now I understand _ they're used for schools, hospitals, helping the community."

The U.S. recession is providing a surplus of current events that help teachers relate economic, math or government lessons to students. The topic has come up in most high school classes, from English to science, teachers said.

At Modesto High School, Carol Negranza's students start each class taking notes on a five-minute morning news radio broadcast. On a recent Thursday, government students heard about President Barack Obama vowing to close the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; a lender offering low home mortgage rates; the slow performance of stocks; and Microsoft's plans to cut 5,000 jobs.

"I'm letting the news deliver those moments," said Negranza, a government and economics teacher.

The newscasts help Negranza teach economics, but they also offer lessons about money management: Some students, for instance, think credit cards are free cash.

Students said they enjoy learning about the news and most said they will continue to pay attention to current events after Negranza's class.

"It's easier for us to relate to things happening now than with things happening 100 years ago," said senior Veronica Cavara, referring to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The seniors also noted how the economy is affecting them. One has a parent who lost a job, another had to move so his father could find a more stable job, and another said her parents have gone bankrupt. Students also are having difficulty finding part-time jobs, and many who planned on enrolling at a university as freshmen said they will start at a junior college to save money.

Ceres, Calif., teacher Steve Pierce also uses the news to get through to students. Each week, his high school economics seniors read articles about the economy, then write a synopsis and opinion on the issue. Pierce said he wants teach students how people's habits are affected during a recession.

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"It's not just about the changes being made on Wall Street, but also the changes made by the government and people in their own personal finances," he said.

Pierce also wants students to understand the underlying causes of recessions.

"It's about dissecting the crisis and how it happened. We're learning a lot of how _ how mortgages work and lending institutions," he said. "It's also an opportunity to teach about budgeting and saving. It's not just (important) for individuals to build more solid foundations in their personal lives, but the nation as a whole depends on it, too."

Advanced Placement economics teacher Kari Elizondo of Beyer High School in Modesto has students research and invest imaginary money in the stock market.

Her goal is not to scare students but to make sure they're better informed.

"They'll understand the Federal Reserve and interest rates, understand how things affect them. It gets them to care," Elizondo said. "They'll be able to see the natural ups and downs, that things like the recession are natural."

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© 2009, The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.).