The senior economy: competitive and crazy

By Emily Reeping

Mundane lectures, complicated homework assignments, and impossible tests; these are usually the types of things that students think they're getting themselves into when transitioning into their senior year in high school.

True as this may be, there is one required class at Bishop Kelly that is far from the traditional class described above. Marta Watson's single-semester Economics class incorporates many of the customary aspects of a high school class with some new twists designed to make the class more enjoyable and the concepts easier to grasp.
Learning the theories and applications of economics can be a difficult and confusing. To help her students, Mrs. Watson has devised a system that allows seniors to utilize and understand the strange ways of economics: a mini-economy game. In this game, each student has a solid salary of $5,000 per week, along with opportunities to make more money as the semester goes on.

Now, you've probably noticed on Mondays the huge rush of seniors as they try to get to Mrs. Watson's classroom the fastest those days. This is because her students are required to pay rent for where they sit, and the farther back in the room they are, the more rent they have to pay each week.

Along with scurrying to get to class each week, Econ students also have different job opportunities set up by Mrs. Watson. Some of these jobs are for the full semester, such as class assistants, bankers, and assistant bankers. There are also some weekly jobs too including taking attendance, saying prayer, collecting rent, and auditing.
One of the final things Mrs. Watson does to let students earn money is pay them for wearing the same outfit every single day. This is paid weekly, and as you're walking down the hallways, you are sure to see quite a few seniors who look the same every day.

With a solid salary, the option to have one or more of these jobs, and wearing the same outfit, there should be enough money to sustain a person and keep them happy, right? Wrong. Apart from all the money Mrs. Watson pays and gets paid, students are also able to earn money from other students. Businesses are created, partnerships are formed, and rivalries begin to appear. Students band together and create businesses together, and within those businesses they create proposals. These proposals can restrict the rest of the class from doing certain things or make them do other things. For example, in some classes, tennis shoes are outlawed and speaking is not allowed unless preceded by a bow. In other classes, people can only speak in the third person, or some have to talk in accents. Each time someone in a business sees their proposal being infracted, they write it down, and on bank day they collect money from the violators. This is by far the most competitive and the fastest way to make money in the game.

There is another game that Mrs. Watson brings into her classroom called the stock market game. This is a national game and allows students the opportunity to see what it's like to buy and trade through the American Stock Market.
Both of these games provide seniors with real life experiences and teach them how to apply the concepts of economics to real life.

The senior economy: competitive and crazy

By Emily Reeping

Mundane lectures, complicated homework assignments, and impossible tests; these are usually the types of things that students think they're getting themselves into when transitioning into their senior year in high school.

True as this may be, there is one required class at Bishop Kelly that is far from the traditional class described above. Marta Watson's single-semester Economics class incorporates many of the customary aspects of a high school class with some new twists designed to make the class more enjoyable and the concepts easier to grasp.
Learning the theories and applications of economics can be a difficult and confusing. To help her students, Mrs. Watson has devised a system that allows seniors to utilize and understand the strange ways of economics: a mini-economy game. In this game, each student has a solid salary of $5,000 per week, along with opportunities to make more money as the semester goes on.

Now, you've probably noticed on Mondays the huge rush of seniors as they try to get to Mrs. Watson's classroom the fastest those days. This is because her students are required to pay rent for where they sit, and the farther back in the room they are, the more rent they have to pay each week.

Along with scurrying to get to class each week, Econ students also have different job opportunities set up by Mrs. Watson. Some of these jobs are for the full semester, such as class assistants, bankers, and assistant bankers. There are also some weekly jobs too including taking attendance, saying prayer, collecting rent, and auditing.
One of the final things Mrs. Watson does to let students earn money is pay them for wearing the same outfit every single day. This is paid weekly, and as you're walking down the hallways, you are sure to see quite a few seniors who look the same every day.

With a solid salary, the option to have one or more of these jobs, and wearing the same outfit, there should be enough money to sustain a person and keep them happy, right? Wrong. Apart from all the money Mrs. Watson pays and gets paid, students are also able to earn money from other students. Businesses are created, partnerships are formed, and rivalries begin to appear. Students band together and create businesses together, and within those businesses they create proposals. These proposals can restrict the rest of the class from doing certain things or make them do other things. For example, in some classes, tennis shoes are outlawed and speaking is not allowed unless preceded by a bow. In other classes, people can only speak in the third person, or some have to talk in accents. Each time someone in a business sees their proposal being infracted, they write it down, and on bank day they collect money from the violators. This is by far the most competitive and the fastest way to make money in the game.

There is another game that Mrs. Watson brings into her classroom called the stock market game. This is a national game and allows students the opportunity to see what it's like to buy and trade through the American Stock Market.
Both of these games provide seniors with real life experiences and teach them how to apply the concepts of economics to real life.