The Bank of Canada Museum is honouring two outstanding educators for their exceptional work in teaching students about the economy.

Andre Boutin Maloney from Bert Fox Community High School in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, and Kim Dudek from Murdoch Mackay Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba, are the winners of the Museum’s second annual Award for Excellence in Teaching Economics.

The two teachers helped students connect broad economic concepts to local and national contexts through a teaching approach that put the students and their interests at the heart of learning about the economy. As well, students developed financial and economic literacy skills from projects that are exemplary in the field of economics education.

Andre’s students learned about the roles of Indigenous hunters and trappers. The students then developed a role-playing game around economic principles such as supply and demand, division of labour, perceived value and the free market. In the game, students traded beaver fur tokens for resource cards. Each resource card came with conditions that affected the trapper’s efficiency, highlighting Indigenous ingenuity. The students then taught the game to younger children at their community’s Treaty 4 Gathering.

Kim’s high school students developed a trading post and crafted gifts and cultural items that they sold to support a local women’s shelter. Kim, who is Métis, runs an Indigenous Academic Achievement class that took on the challenge of raising money during the holiday season when people face increased demands on their time and spending. Students learned about the economy through real-world experiences. Solving economic and logistical problems provided lessons on free and mixed market economies, profit, social responsibility and payment practices.

Each winner receives $1,000 and a gift basket of items for their class. More information on this year’s winners is available on the Museum’s website.

Nominations came in from across the country and were reviewed by a selection committee made up of Bank of Canada staff and experts from non-profit organizations and government agencies in the fields of economics and education.

“The jury was provided with some remarkably innovative approaches to teaching economic concepts," said Deputy Governor Sharon Kozicki. “What really stood out was the ability of Kim and Andre to get their classes to learn economics through activity, using perspectives sure to resonate with today’s students. With these approaches, it seemed likely that students would get excited about these topics and remember the economic lessons.”

Nominations for next year’s award will open in early 2024.

Notes to editors:

• The Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, explains how the Bank sets monetary policy, promotes a sound financial system, issues Canada’s bank notes, acts as fiscal agent for the Government of Canada and supervises Canada’s retail payments system.
• The Museum supports teachers and students through free school programs, lesson plans and activities available on its Learn page.
• For more information about the Museum and its services, visit the website.