The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education

McCartney Makes a Federal Case of Lesson Plans!

Sabrina McCartney, a teacher at Carrollwood Day School in Tampa received recognition for earning first place in the 2009 Lesson Plan of the Year Competition sponsored by the Jacksonville Branch of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. She was awarded a $1,000 bond and becomes a finalist in the regional competition. Pictured at the awards luncheon held on March 20, 2009 are Chris Oakley, Vice President and Manager of the Jacksonville Branch, Sabrina McCartney, Sara Messina, FED Education Specialist, and Fred Dorsett, USF Stavros Center, a member of the FED Education Advisory Group.

Stavros Center Advocacy Board Member Hosts Show on WEDU

Geoff Simon, Advocacy Board member of the Stavros Center is Senior Vice President with Simon Johnson Stanger Wealth Advisors of Raymond James & Associates. Mr. Simon is also Chairman of the Florida Council on Economic Education. On his show, Geoff meets our area’s best businessmen and women and interviews them about the triumphs and inspirations that shaped them into the successes they are today. To view past episodes of Suncoast Business Forum with Geoff Simon, click here.

Map & Direction to the Stavros Center

Here's a map, to make sure you can find your way to the USF Stavros Center in the quickest, most stress-free manner possible. Click here for our printable map. For written directions with information on where to park with a Daily Permit, click here.

If you have a VIP Parking Permit, click here.

Drive safely!

Now, It's REALLY, TOTALLY About Economics!

Using this simple list will help students understand the thought processes behind many "mysterious" decisions (e.g. why selling more artificial Christmas trees means fewer evergreens survive).
Sometimes called the Handy Dandy Guide, this list presents the key to why economics is an everyday skill and also why it integrates easily into so many subject areas.

1. People economize. People choose the alternative that seems best to them because it involves the least cost and the greatest benefit.
2. All choices involve cost. Cost is the second best choice. It is what people give up when they make their first choice.
3. People respond to incentives. Incentives are actions or rewards that encourage people to act. When incentives change, people's behaviors change in predictable ways.
4. Economics systems influence individual choices and incentives. How people cooperate is governed by written and unwritten rules. As rules change, incentives change and behavior changes.
5. Voluntary trade creates wealth. People can produce more in less time by concentrating on what they do best. The surplus goods or services they produce can be traded to obtain other valuable goods or services.
6. The consequences of a choice lie in the future. The important costs and benefits in economic decision making are those which will appear in the future. Economics stresses making decisions about the future because it is only the future that we can influence. We cannot influence things that have already happened, i.e. the past.

Using YouTube as a teaching tool

Bank Of America Support

During the 2008 academic year, the Stavros Center received a grant of $10,000 from Bank of America Tampa in support of workshops, seminars, etc., conducted by the Center for Hillsborough County K-12 educators in the area of financial literacy/economic education. Led by Stavros Center program and workshop coordinator, Mr. Fred Dorsett, this initiative has impacted hundreds of K-12 educators. The Stavros Center is grateful for the strong support demonstrated by Bank of America Tampa in the Center's programs. Teachers who participated in the workshops also received curriculum materials to support their instructional programs in Hillsborough schools.

Timely Seminar Series

The USF Stavros Center, with sponsorship from The Coca Cola Foundation, The Polk Education Foundation, and The South Tampa Chamber of Commerce, invited 40 K-12 educators to participate in a series of 5 seminars featuring critical issues discussed in the 2009 presidential election. The series was extremely well attended!

Dr. Scott Brown discussed Subprime fiasco, mortgage foreclosures, awash in red ink, rising unemployment and historic price points for gas! It’s the Economy Stupid (AGAIN)! Mr. Eric Man (seen in center of photo at left) presented his views on China as a Growing Economic Power in the Global Economy: Implications for the United States. Mr. Jerry Cionci discussed Competitive Globalization: What the United States Needs to Do to Prosper in a Changing Economic World. Mr. Jeff Knott discussed Navigating the Healthcare Maze and What You Need to Know. Dr. Reza Razavi presented his views on The Future Relationship of Iran and the United States. To download podcasts of these and other Stavros Center presentations go to iTunesU by clicking here! Be sure to choose the "Stavros Center" tab under Description!

Successful Workshop focused on Iran and the United States

Dr. Reza Razavi's insightful presentation, "The Future Relationship of Iran and the United States: Conflict or Cooperation?," looked at the current climate between Iran and the U.S.
Razavi examined the past and the present for commonalities and differences, and then looked into the future for possible answers to issues.
Reza is a native of Iran and has a law degree from Stetson University College of Law. He owns two businesses and travels extensively throughout the Middle East.
In addition to his business interests, Dr. Razavi currently teaches AP Economics, World History, and Philosoply at Wharton High School in Hillsborough County, Florida.

You can easily obtain the video of Dr. Reza Razavi's presentation. To download this and other Stavros Center presentations go to iTunesU by clicking here! Be sure to choose the "Stavros Center" tab under "Description"!

The United States in a Global Economy

Recently, the USF Stavros Center and the Jacksonville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank co-hosted An Evening with the Fed. 46 educators and administrators enjoyed a delicious, catered dinner which was followed by an exploration of current economic and financial topics designed to assist them in helping students translate theory into real-world lessons. The program featured Dr. Tom Cunningham, vice president and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Cunningham discussed labor movements, trade, and financial flows. Click here for the video podcast of his presentation, as well as the Q & A session that followed. The PowerPoint presentation he used that evening may be accessed by clicking here.

Stavros Center on iTunesU - Great Ideas - Useful Resources

Knowing that time is a very scarce resource for all teachers, we've put some lessons/activities at your fingertips (or should we say in your ears?) by formatting quick, pertinent economics lessons as podcasts. Here's just one example: the quintessential economics lesson - Get What You Want! In addition to the podcast lessons, we film the wonderful guest speakers who graciously make presentations in our seminars and classes and we're making the video available to you as video enhanced podcasts.

You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunesU. The benefit of subscribing to a podcast is that, like a magazine subscription, when there is a new episode it will automatically come to you. In this case, it will download to iTunes on your computer. To take advantage of this you will need to install iTunes, free from Apple (click here). Then you can easily access our podcasts from iTunesU by clicking here!

Applications forms

Here are 3 real-world employment application forms that go with our new curricula guide: Handy Skills You'll REALLY Need Out There: Soft and Hard Skill-Sets for the Global Workplace. State of Florida application, City of Gulfport application, City of Winston-Salem application.

Entrepreneurial Students Make the Grade

If you've imagined that Entrepreneurial Thinking is only about being "business-minded" we'd ask you to think again! Entrepreneurial Thinking is about recognizing opportunities and understanding how and when to capitalize on them; thinking about the same old stuff in brand new ways.

When students think entrepreneurially, they likely have a forward focus, they can be more easily motivated, and they are often quick to make connections. What educator doesn't value students with those qualitites? Here's a quick, easy, and fun way to introduce your class to entrepreneurial thinking. Taking this self-evaluation quiz from the National Council on Economic Education will help each student assess their own entrepreneurial qualities: Entrepreneurial Self-Evaluation Activity.

The Stavros Center hosted a session for K-12 educators with Brigadier General Muhammad Ahsan Mehmood, Parkistan's Senior National Representative, on the Pakistan Liaison Team currently assigned to the US Central Command. General Mehmood's remarks focused on the efforts by the U.S., Pakistan and other allies to combat global terrorism. A significant aspect of the presentation centered on understanding the cultural and religious history of the people in that part of the world.

Approximately 40 educators from several school districts in the area had the opportunity to participate in the Q&A session following the General's presentation. In addition to the educators, several members of the business community attended the event. The Stavros Center gratefully acknowledges the willingness of General Mehmood to speak at the center and also thanks Mr. Robert Rowen, Owner, Nuance Galleries, for his invaluable assistance in arranging for General Mehmood to be our guest.