Joanne Dempsey
Joanne Dempsey, executive director of the Illinois Council on Economic Education at NIU, has been selected to serve as the faculty leader for the National Council on Economic Education’s (NCEE) Study Tour on Economic Education in the Republic of South Africa in July and August.
The study tour is an activity of the Cooperative Education Exchange Program (CEEP) conducted by the NCEE with funding from the U.S. Department of Education and carried out in coordination with the U.S. Department of State.
Dempsey will co-lead the tour for 12 U.S. educators selected to take part in this program. The teacher participants come from Illinois and 10 other states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
After a pre-departure program in Washington, D.C., the group will travel to two provinces in South Africa – Free State and KwaZulu Natal. They are scheduled to visit schools, observe teacher training activities and meet with provincial Department of Education officials, educational administrators and business leaders.
Through the study tour, participants will:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for learning and exchanging ideas, and I look forward to speaking with my counterparts in South Africa and interacting with their students,” Dempsey said.
After returning from the study tour, teachers participating in the program will incorporate the experience into their teaching of economics, conduct workshops and give presentations to local civic groups.
The Illinois Council on Economic Education has sponsored international classroom partnerships for four years, connecting Illinois teachers with educators from other countries. Currently, three teachers in Illinois are partnered with four teachers in Romania.
ICEE is a non-profit organization housed in NIU Outreach.
An affiliate of the National Council on Economic Education, ICEE strives to promote economic and financial literacy education throughout K-12 schools in Illinois. It provides professional development, programs, curriculum resources and hands-on activities for use in the classroom.