Five educators received teaching awards at a luncheon hosted by Economics Arkansas at the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock on Wednesday.
Four of these teachers, all of whom were from Sebastian and Benton counties, were honored with the Bessie B. Moore awards for excellence in economic and personal finance education during the 2018-19 school year, according to an Economics Arkansas news release.
They each received a $1,000 cash award and a copy of “The Bessie,” a 7-inch statue created on a 3-D printer by the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub.
The winners and their projects are:
Amy Nicole Gordon, “Cupid’s Creations,” Barling Elementary, Fort Smith School District.
Valarie Harp, “P.I.E.S., Primary Investigators Economics Style,” Hackett Elementary, Hackett School District.
Amy Mileham, “Truckin’ Through Economics,” Grace Hill Elementary, Rogers School District.
Anna Badders, “The Lemonade Stand Hangout,” Grace Hill Elementary, Rogers School District.
When accepting her award, the release stated that Mileham noted that Badders had been her fifth grade student years before.
In addition, Sheila Humphrey, a now retired teacher at J.P. Woods Elementary in the Fort Smith School District, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in economic and personal finance education during her almost 30-yearlong career in the elementary school classroom, according to the release.
The release stated Economics Arkansas, through the Arkansas Council on Economic Education, is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization founded in 1962 by Arch Ford, with Bessie B. Moore as its first executive director, to promote economic literacy in Arkansas.