2018 Winners Honored

2018 award winners

From left, Caitlin Mueller, Tara Counts, Tammy May, Tara Hardy, Linda King, Stephanie Driver, Cynthia Lam, Lisa Long, Bethany Everidge, Callie Randolph, Lacey Clarke and Holly Bazzle were recognized as 2018 winners.

On Oct. 8, teachers from the Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County Public Schools received awards for their innovative projects in economic education. The awards were sponsored by the Harrisonburg Rotary Club and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. The awards include cash prizes ranging up to $1,000 for the grand prize.

2018 award winners

From left, top local winners Caitlin Mueller, Tara Counts, Tammy May, Tara Hardy, Lisa Long and Bethany Everidge.

dianna alger

Dianna Alger

Awards were presented at the regular Monday meeting of the Rotary Club. Dianna Alger of Page County High School was also honored separately as the Virginia Council on Economic Education’s nominee for Economic Educator of the Year representing the Shenandoah Valley region.

The teachers honored also included these grade-level winners:

  • Virginia Munns of Smithland Elementary School, for her project, “2nd Graders + Big Hearts = Kindness,” which won first place in the primary (K-2) division.
  • Linda King, Holly Bazzle, Lacey Clark and Stephanie Driver of John C. Myers Elementary, for their project, “Class Dojo Economics,” which won second place in the primary (K-2) division.
  • Tara Hardy and Tammy May of John C. Myers Elementary, for their project, “Kids Market,” which won first place in the elementary (grades 3-5) division.
  • Nora S. Fletcher of J. Frank Hillyard Middle School, for her project, “An Autism Awareness Campaign Filled with Scents/Cents,” which won first place in the Middle School division.
  • Callie Randolph of Skyline Middle School, for her project, “Life in the Real World,” which won second place in the Middle School division.
  • Cynthia Lam of Elkton Middle School, for her project, “Lifestyle Budget,” which won third place in the Middle School division.
  • Bethany Everidge of Harrisonburg High School, for her project, “What are Common Words Anyways? Supporting Students through Tier-Two Vocabulary and Financial Literacy,” which won first place in the High School division.

Overall winners in the competition were:

  • Tara Counts and Caitlin Mueller of J. Frank Hillyard Middle School, for their project, “Restaurant Possible,” which won the grand prize in the overall competition.
  • Lisa Long and Walt Williamson of Harrisonburg High School, for their project, “The Blue Streak Stitching Company,” which won the reserve grand prize in the overall competition.

SVEE is a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Kruggel Joins SVEE Program

Indiana economic educator John Kruggel has been named to succeed Lynne Stover to lead the teacher outreach programs of the JMU Center for Economic Education. With funding from Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc., Kruggel will serve as Associate Director of the Center. Kruggel will conduct workshops, coordinate awards participation, develop economic lesson content and work with teachers one-on-one. Here’s a sketch on John Kruggel’s background:

John Kruggel graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Secondary Education in 2001. For his first teaching assignment he worked with the Indiana Council for Economic Education to create an award winning economics program in Haikou, China. John has over 15 years of teaching experience.

In 2010, he was one of six teachers in Indiana named an Indiana University Armstrong Teacher Educator. John has conducted numerous professional development workshops for elementary, middle and high school teachers throughout his school district. He has worked with the Indiana Council for Economic Education, as well as the IUPUI and ISU Centers for Economic Education, to organize and lead workshops throughout the state.

In 2017, he graduated from the Master of Arts in Economics and Entrepreneurship for Educators program at the University of Delaware. That same year John was named the Olin Davis Award winner for excellence in teaching economics in the state of Indiana. Most recently, he created a newsletter for economics, personal finance and business teachers in Indiana to help them integrate economics concepts covered in the news into the classroom. John has been married to his wonderful wife Heidi for nearly 10 years. Together they are the proud parents of Gabe (6) and Kathleen (4).

john kruggel

Heidi, John, Gabe and Kathleen