State Farm Supports Innovative Teaching At Stavros Center, Largo

Using text phones to teach a social studies lesson. Showing the Wizard of Oz to teach economic history and principles. These are just a few of the things being shared with teachers to promote economic literacy to their students to prepare them to compete in a global marketplace. And State Farm just gave nearly $20K to generate more of the same.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance contributed $19,000 to the Academy of Global Literacies at the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education to support innovative professional development programs for K-12 educators throughout the Tampa Bay area.

"In order for students to have the knowledge and skills they're going to need to navigate an increasingly global economy they have to be financially literate," says Dick Puglisi, director of the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education, and assistant dean of the USF College of Education. "And kids today are blogging, Twittering and communicating in ways we never did. How do we give teachers skills that connect with the ways kids are learning anyway? What we are striving to do is provide creative strategies for teachers so they themselves can be models of this type of technology in teaching them the skills they're going to need to be globally competitive."

"At the end of the day, it's the students who are our future workers," says Jose Soto, a State Farm spokesperson. "It's all about building the workforce in our community, and we need to empower teachers to do that."

State Farm has also been a strong supporter and community partner with the Stavros Center's state affiliate, the Florida Council on Economic Education, and the center's national affiliate, the Council for Economic Education.

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Sources: Dick Puglisi, The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education; Jose Soto, State Farm