Economics students prepare for summit

AP government has come and gone, and the students in Mr. Anderson's third-period class have moved on to civics. Like last semester, it will be a hard road ahead — and not just because of the work. This time around, the name of the game is the economics summit in San Francisco.

For three years, Mr. Anderson has taken his advanced-placement students to the regional summit. The summit provides both a chance for students to learn about the economic situations around the world and a competition to find ways to improve them. The country with the best economy wins.

It won't be easy, some students having third-world or corrupt countries to work with. Russia, Thailand and Sierra Leone are only a few that Lindhurst High School students will represent. Mr. Anderson's class was split into groups to represent the various countries around the world, all except for the United States. (Because the U.S. has the largest economy in the world, any student representing the U.S economy would be sure to win the summit, so the U.S. can only be represented as a trading country.)

Each group has many jobs — each needs a score master, a costumes and research person and someone who is sociable to work the trade floor and meet people when the trade floor opens. All the countries will attend the summit; they will go from table to table, trading and bartering for goods and services to improve their economy.

Obviously, being sociable is a big part of this summit and to be successful, you have to know how to sell and communicate with other countries so you know what they need and what they will trade for. Knowing how to trade and what to trade for can be the difference between finishing in first place and last place.

Many students decide to dress up like the people who live in the country whose economy they represent. Costumes help with the judging and earn extra points, depending on the quality. The better the outfit, the better the reward.

Some students in the past have gone all-out, wearing clothes that were so authentic, they made others believe they were actually from the country they represented. Others tend to crash and burn, simply wearing T-shirts with the name of their country. Going the extra mile helps!

Lindhurst has so far only won fifth place in the years it has competed at the economic summit, but Mr. Anderson has high hopes for this year's seniors. "Not much to worry about with this group," Mr. Anderson said.

Since January, the AP class has worked hard and studied hard to prepare. Day after day, the students eat, breathe and live by their players guide — the book gives them all the tools they need to take other countries by storm.

Mr. Anderson says his biggest worry is "getting lost on the way there." The summit is in May and is coming fast, but Mr. Anderson's class will be more than ready.

Kameron Dansby is a senior at Lindhurst High School. His column appears about every sixth week in Education.