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MC Hosts International Economic Summit


Mississippi College is hosting the state's first International Economic Summit that will attract high school students to engage in simulated world trading competition.

The April 16 summit will attract 70 students from Clinton High, Madison Central High, Centreville Academy, St. Andrews Episcopal School in Ridgeland, and Neshoba High in Philadelphia. The academic event runs from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. that Friday at Anderson Hall.

"We are looking forward to having these students on our campus for this valuable competition," says Mississippi College School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo.

The event is structured like a model United Nations with each student representing a different country. The students prepared for weeks as they researched their country's economy, political structure, imports and exports, natural resources and infrastructure needs.

Teams of high school students will be prepared to negotiate and trade their way to enhance the standard of living in the country they represent.

Charlotte Walker, master teacher of economics at Clinton High, is bringing seven teams to the event. The summit, she said, "provides an opportunity for our students to have first-hand experience dealing with current economic and political issues that affect us daily."

The conference is sponsored by the Center for Economic Education and Development at the Mississippi College School of Business, the Mississippi Council on Economic Education in Jackson, and the Mississippi Geographic Alliance in partnership with the International Economic Summit Institute at Boise State University in Idaho, and MC.

"This is the first summit of its kind in Mississippi," Eduardo said. "We are pleased to have our Center for Economic Education here in the School of Business play a role in bringing the competition to the state."

Created last year, the MC center works with the Mississippi Council on Economic Education to enhance economics education for teachers in area schools.

Sponsors predict the competition should bring key issues to the forefront.

"The global economy is a major issue and we appreciate the preparation teachers have been willing to do in order to prepare for the first Mississippi Summit," says Pamela Smith, president of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education.

For more information on the International Economic Summit program, visit http://www.econsummit.org. For additional information on MC's Center for Economic Education and Development, contact professor Chris Smith at Csmith@mc.edu or 601-925-3412.