Intro to Economics and Finance

by Richard Sapien
April 12, 2009

Two members of the Regional Economic Development Association, William Black and Erik Pavia, developed and presented the Regional Identity: Intro to Finance and Economics Program to a class of sixth grade students at Alderete Middle School.

Black and Pavia developed the hour and a half presentation to teach basic fundamentals of economics and finance to an elementary class.

“One reason we wanted to do this is because some of the material we’re going to cover today isn’t really taught to kids until they reach high school,” Pavia said. “We want to give them just a basic insight into what it is that the economy is-what finance is- just so that when they turn on the news, they’ll have a better understanding as to what it is that everybody is talking about.”

Black and Pavia discussed subjects such as the basis of an economy, supply and demand, liquidity, sole-proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, the value of a company, the stock market and stocks, and globalization.

The students were engaged in the subject matter, despite the lecture’s complexity and the students’ limited prior knowledge. REDA and the students plan to refine the economics and finance presentation for other six-grade students around El Paso.

“What I liked mostly about the presentation was learning about the companies- how they increase and decrease in stocks, importing and exporting goods,” sixth-grader Miranda Guerrero said. “I learned a lot from this experience.”

William Black is an Economics and Finance major at UTEP and can be reached at wcblack@miners.utep.edu. Erik Pavia is an Economics major and can be reached at elpavia@miners.utep.edu.

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Richard Sapien

Sapien is a senior Economics major at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is the President of the Regional Economic Development Association and Vice President of the Business College Council. He plans to attend law school after receiving his BBA.