Three Rockingham County teachers have won three of the four first-place statewide awards in competition sponsored by the Virginia Council on Economic Education.

The awards were won by Barbara Palmer of Montevideo Middle School, Bonnie Berry of Ottobine Elementary School, and Allen J. Ruliffson of J. Frank Hillyard Middle School.

There were separate competitions for full economics units and for lesson plans in an elementary division for kindergarten through fifth grade and a secondary division for grades six through 12.

Palmer’s project, the “Go Green Gang: Doing Green Things Brings Green Rewards,” won first place for full economics units in the secondary division. For her project, middle school students learned individually and in groups about the costs and benefits of environmentally sensitive practices.

Berry’s project, “Resources Working Together,” won first place for lesson plans in the elementary division.

For Berry’s project, kindergarten students learned about natural, human and capital resources. A culminating field trip to a Bridgewater pizza restaurant allowed students to make their own pizzas.

Ruliffson’s project won first place among secondary school lesson plans.

For his lesson plan, “Education, Careers, and Technology,” Ruliffson developed a challenging simulation of life choices and budgeting.

Also placing in state competition were Wayne Arbogast of J. Frank Hillyard Middle School and a joint project by Maria Blair and Tammy Shearer of Plains Elementary School.

Arbogast placed second in the secondary division for full economics units with “Building Success,” a project in which students planned, constructed and finished a storage building to learn basic economic principles and to develop work skills.

Blair and Shearer won second place among elementary economics units for their Civil War project, “A Man’s Gotta Do What a Man’s Gotta Do.”

The state winners were entered through a local competition sponsored by the Harrisonburg Rotary Club and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. Winners were recognized at a meeting of the Rotary Club on October 5. In addition to the state prize-winning units and lesson plans, local recognition went to:

  • Heather Gigliotti and Therese Warner of McGaheysville Elementary School, for a year-long reading, physical exercise and economics project, “Healthy Hearts, Minds, and Souls.”
  • Callie Randolph of J. Frank Hillyard Middle School, for “Agriculture Business 101,” an in-class agricultural society that taught students about economics and entrepreneurship.
  • Greg Corder of Thomas Harrison Middle School for “Credit Card Lending,” a project that used computer exercises to teach students about credit cards, interest and the pitfalls of overcharging.
  • Faith Hottle of Broadway High School for “The Value of a High School Diploma,” showing students the value of education and independent living skills through a variety of exercises and activities.

Economic education locally is supported by Shenandoah Valley Economic Education Inc., a nonprofit organization that combines business and school contributions to fund the field work of the James Madison University Center for Economic Education.