The 10th Annual Children in the Marketplace Program

The 10th annual Children in the Marketplace program begins next month at California State University, Bakersfield. The project, which runs from July 14 to 25, is an innovative economics education program presented by CSUB. The curriculum is designed to introduce elementary school students to fundamentals of economics, decision-making, and citizenship.

"Our goal is to educate children about decision making, because ultimately their lives will be affected by the choices they make," said program director Abbas Grammy, an economics professor at CSUB. "In fact, many boys and girls begin to learn the importance of work, education, money, and set career goals as well as make decisions."

Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from area schools participate in the summer program, learning the fundamentals of markets, from supply and demand to money and the banking system, including lessons that bring home the concepts of competition, price and profit through hands-on projects. Students take roles as managers, workers, and consumers, learning to solve practical problems, such as how to manage scarce resources and how to price a product.

"The program is fun and educational," Grammy said. "Parents and children really like it." The program offers 30 hours of in-class instruction, group activities and business trips. Students are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Children in the Marketplace is funded by a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation that has helped reduce the student tuition fee to $90 for the two-week program. Participants receive a T-shirt and class photo. Tuition assistance is available, Grammy said.

Classes meet in Dorothy Donahoe Hall room E106 on the CSUB campus from 9 a.m. to noon. Marnie Forzetting, a teacher at Ronald Regan Elementary School in Bakersfield, is the instructor. Nancy Garrett of Wells Fargo Bank serves as honorary program chair.

For more information, please call Grammy at (661) 664-2466.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mike Stepanovich, (661) 664-2456, mstepanovich@csub.edu