Melissa Flickinger

Flickinger's "Economic Concepts" project lets grade-school students participate in a classroom mini-economy. Students fill out job applications, attend interviews, and obtain jobs. They receive "paychecks," from which they pay taxes, rent, and utilities, contribute to savings accounts, and purchase supplies from the class store. Through the project, students are introduced to economical and personal finance concepts while discovering the relationship between wages and work. Entrepreneurism is also explored when students open booths in the school's "marketplace."