THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510180150
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER SUFFOLK
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
THROUGH THE STUDY of economics, India Meissel introduces her students at Lakeland High School to the real world of trade and finance. And she strives to make learning fun.
``I have sat in enough classes, looking at my watch,'' she said. ``I want to teach how I, personally, want to be taught.''
Among other things, that means cutting across curriculum lines. For example, when Meissel created lesson plans on international trade and exchange, she and Jean Draper, Lakeland marketing instructor, combined classes for 2 1/2 weeks.
``Afterwards, the kids talked about it for weeks. That sparked a little more interest in us.''
The enthusiastic response led Meissel to submit her plans to the Virginia Council on Economic Education, and she was notified recently that she has been selected for both a statewide and a national honor in the teaching of economics.
She got that good news two days before leaving for a Foundation for Teaching Economics Conference in Seattle. She was among 30 teachers from throughout the United States, and the only one to represent Virginia.
She captured first place in the high school category in the Virginia Council on Economic Education's 1995 Teacher Awards Program for Excellence in Economic Education. She will be recognized Oct. 30, at the council's annual meeting in Richmond.
Meissel was awarded a fourth-place tie on the senior high school level by the National Council on Economic Education for her exemplary teaching practices in the 33rd annual National Awards for Teaching Economics.
She will attend a series of celebrations and educational events in Washington, Oct. 28-30, culminating with a ceremony and luncheon on Capitol Hill.
``Competition for these prestigious teaching awards is exceptional, and to be selected as an award recipient is an outstanding accomplishment,'' said S. Stowell Symmes, director of the national awards program in a letter to Suffolk School Superintendent Joyce H. Trump.
Meissel's award-winning plans resulted from a project she completed for a global economics class for teachers last year. She was unable to submit an entry for judging, however, until she had taught the unit plan for a year.
``In class at Lakeland, we looked at the business side of things, then Jean gave a different approach with the marketing side of business,'' Meissel said. ``We looked at foreign versus American commercials and then tied this into foreign exchange. We did a complete exercise on why we should even trade.''
Other thought-provoking exercises and lectures were scheduled throughout the two weeks of classes. An exercise in trading required each of five students seated at tables to choose a stapled brown bag from a box and assign a personal value to it. Then the contents were emptied onto the tables and students were allowed to trade items.
``We simulated a domestic trade and then, an international trade,'' Meissel said. ``Afterwards, we had a discussion on why they traded and if they `traded up.' Over half of my students said they thought it was neat. They all felt that something touched them and they understood.
``I want my students to be a part of the world on a global scale . . . and it opened their eyes to what is possible.''
A native of Seaford, Del., Meissel, 31, was adopted as an infant. While growing up, she lived with her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Larry Sharpe, and adopted older brother, Harry, in Atlanta, Ga., Portsmouth and Suffolk.
Today, Harry Sharpe is the piano player for country music star Tanya Tucker.
``I became the athletic one in the family, and he became the artistic person,'' she said.
Meissel graduated from Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and received her bachelors degree after spending two years each at Radford College and Old Dominion University. She taught for three years at Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth before transferring to Lakeland High School five years ago.
Her husband, Howard Meissel, teaches art history at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. They live with their 19-month-old daughter, Austin, in Isle of Wight County. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
India Meissel, a teacher at Lakeland High School, has been selected
by the Virginia Council on Economic Education for both state and
national honors in the teaching of economics.
by CNB