ODU CENTER FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION PROGRAM MANAGER HONORED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Ruth Cookson, program manager for the Center for Economic Education at Old Dominion University received the National Association of Economic Educators 2004 "Rookie of the Year" award at the annual meeting held in Little Rock, Arkansas in October.

"It was a great honor to receive this extremely competitive national award. I'm hoping that my recognition will lead to a greater awareness among area teachers that the center is here to help with economic education-offering free workshops, lessons and support to help them not only raise the SOL scores for their schools, but also make economics fun and exciting for their students," said Cookson.

The award recognizes an individual who has been a member of the National Council on Economic Education for less than two years and who has "hit the ground running" taking up the challenge of providing economic education programs or services as appropriate to their position.

Cookson joined ODU in 2002 and has contributed to the significant growth in the outreach of the Center over the past two years. Her major contribution to economics education has been in the number of workshops and in-service presentations she has conducted for K-12 teachers in the Hampton Roads school systems. Her knowledge of the Virginia Standards of Learning has been an asset and source of support for teachers as they prepare their students for the economics strand of the Social Studies standards. In addition, Cookson has presented at several conferences on both the national and state levels, co-authored the lesson "From Boxes to Sheep," published in Resources A to Z, and served as a reviewer for the National Council on Economic Education's Publication, The Wide World of Trade.

For more information on the center e-mail rcookson@odu.edu.