Polk County Public Schools
Three Polk teachers won 2010 Governor’s Awards For Excellence In Teaching Economics. The year 2010 was the 31st annual presentation of the awards and the awards were coordinated by the Florida Council on Economic Education and Publix Super Markets Charities.
Polk teachers winning the awards were Melissa Konkol-Bennett of Bartow’s Gause Academy, Brittany Sampson of Lakeland High and Dr. Antionette Wilcox of Bartow’s Union Academy.
Konkol-Bennett, Sampson and Wilcox were among 34 in the state honored for their innovation in teaching economics, free enterprise and financial literacy. To be considered for the awards, teachers from across the state submitted materials and lesson plans showcasing their economics instruction.
Polk’s award-winning teachers received a variety of prizes including SeaWorld passes for themselves and guests.
The following is a summary of the projects submitted by Konkol-Bennett, Sampson and Wilcox.
Melissa Konkol-Bennett, Gause Academy: Melissa won a second place in the high school division of a category titled “Personal Financial Literacy.” The category includes instruction in budgeting and career-based lessons. Melissa’s project was titled “Exploring My Future Career.”
Brittany Sampson, Lakeland High: Brittany won a third place in the high school division of the Personal Financial Literacy category with her curriculum titled “Nutritional Family Meal Planning On A Budget.”
Dr. Antionette Wilcox, Union Academy: Antionette won third place in the middle school division of a category titled “Econ 101” which includes lessons that introduce basic economic principles and concepts . Antionette’s project was titled “The Economic Quest For Chocolate.”
Antionette was also named The Florida Council On Economic Education’s “Distinguished Stock Advisor Of The Year” for her students’ participation in the Florida Stock Market Challenge. In the Challenge, school teams are given a hypothetical $100,000 to invest. Portfolios are managed by student teams and teams are ranked. Antionette’s Union Academy team won first place in the middle school division of the Central Florida Region in the fall of 2009.
Antionette was also the Polk County Teacher Of The Year in 2003.
