20 June 2006

Our World is a Global Village: Academic day camp teaches global economic lessons

Twenty-five local children participated in the 2005 summer camp which earned recognition for its content and creative themes from the National Council on Economic Education.

The Longwood Center for Economic Education will host "Our World is a Global Village," an academic, summer day camp for children in grades two through five.  Now in its second year, the camp involves twenty-five students in economic activities focused on life in other countries and parts of the world including Africa, Central America, and Europe. The camp will be held July 24-28.

The objective of the camp is to help students understand and appreciate that they live in a global village, where people just like them engage in production to get things they want and need. The students are introduced to people around the world through the use of videos that show extended families living in thatched huts, primitive school buildings that lack amenities such as desks and electricity, and children whose lives differ drastically from the life that most campers know. 

Lessons are taught through a variety of hands-on activities such as making s’mores in an assembly line, painting African masks, making butter, negotiating trades for different types of candy, practicing with chopsticks, and learning to toss pizza dough.  Through their involvement in a working economy, students can earn money called “global geld” for being on time, giving thoughtful answers, and being helpful.  They can also be fined for bad behavior and making poor choices.  Students who earn money are rewarded with a shopping trip to the camp’s international market.

The camp is co-directed by Dr. Melanie Marks, director of the Longwood Center for Economic Education, and Diana Shores, program manager of the Longwood Center for Economic Education.  The 2005 camp earned recognition for its content and creative themes from the National Council on Economic Education.

Funding for the academic camp is provided by Longwood University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, Wachovia Bank in Farmville, Citizen's Bank and Trust, AtWork Personnel Services, and the National Council on Economic Education.  Longwood University’s Center for Economic Education is supported by funding from the Virginia Council on Economic Education.