Lyon County Schools host own 2020 High School International Economic Summit

SILVER SPRINGS, Nev. — Economics, finance, technology, creativity, teamwork, problem solving, writing, speaking, debate and design: This only begins to explain the plethora of activities Lyon County School District’s economic students had been exploring in the semester leading up to and on the day of the International Economic Summit.

Earlier in January over 250 students from Dayton, Silver Stage, Fernley and Smith Valley High Schools, representing more than 60 countries, gathered at Silver Stage High School to compete in a day-long International Economic Summit. The LCSD International Economic Summit is modeled after Boise State University’s International Economic Summit – The Summit.

The Summit has gained national recognition as one of the most effective educational programs available anywhere for teaching core, transferable career skills in economics, finance and even technology.

Students gain a multi-cultural understanding of how the world works and what they can do to prepare through this world meeting and trade simulation with the ultimate goal of raising the standard of living for their country. The Summit has been around Lyon County School District since 2009.

It began in Damon Etter’s classroom at Dayton High School. Etter was an economics teacher for DHS prior to becoming the assistant principal at Dayton Intermediate School. Since moving to his new position, Stephanie Fitch, current economics teacher at DHS, has continued the tradition of hosting the summit with her Economics class and helped to foster Etter’s vision of growing The Summit into something bigger. The once small classroom project has become a district-wide event and will only continue to grow as Yerington High School will implement the program in their economics classes for future summits.

Etter introduced The Summit into his classroom because he believed International Economics was a difficult subject to teach – he felt there was a disconnect without a real-world application. Patrick Billings, teacher at Silver Stage High School (SSHS), who is in his second year of teaching the Summit at SSHS agrees and states, “It was hard for many students to see the connections and the worldwide implications. Many have never left northern Nevada and have no prior knowledge of a greater geography.” He continues, “The day of the summit is a huge success and it is awesome to see the engagement by most students.”

Etter believes it is a “dream come true” to see The Summit become a district-wide event because he believes it truly benefits students and their understanding of the topics that an Economics class addresses.

Since expanding from a classroom summit at DHS to a Disitrict-wide summit, LCSD has enjoyed the participation and support from University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) economics professors and student leaders who have participated in The Summit as Team USA.

Stephanie Fitch, current Economics teacher at DHS states, "I love that Summit has become a district event. This was Damon Etter’s vision when he brought the Economic Summit to LCSD. I am pleased I was able to keep the vision going until the rest of the district came on board. I’m very grateful to the LCSD leadership, both at District Office and the School Board, for supporting Economics as a separate class and for supporting the Summit. My hope is that all five high schools will be a part of the Summit from here on out. That would be amazing."

The students, although likely exhausted after a day of solving the world’s problems, thoroughly appreciate that they can see a semester’s worth of hard work come together. Teachers and students alike, agree that the Summit is a fun and challenging project where student teams represent the countries of the world.

They compete to raise the standard of living of their assigned country by applying their knowledge and skills in problem solving, international trade, finance, banking, debate, video production and even designing creative costumes and country displays. New to the 2020 summit, students had the option of dressing in a costume representative of their country or professional dress. Since The Summit is usually an event with juniors in high school, this new opportunity to dress professionally allows them to practice preparing for real world presentation.

Billings adds that “The day of The Summit provides a lot of value and soft skills with negotiating and talking to others, critical thinking skills, public speaking, etc.”

Additionally, The Summit is an all encompassing event where Erin Korf, LCSD Content Area Specialist for English Language Arts and Social Studies believes students are able to step into the shoes of those that reside in their chosen country and learn how they live, learn about their successes and struggles and use this information to create a global proposal.

Students are able to see the work of students throughout the district and get a deeper understanding of what it takes to be a global leader. Also, to be a successful team at The Summit, the students must be willing to collaborate, communicate and problem-solve with not only your team, but all teams participating. The Summit is a place where students can unleash their creative minds and show a variety of strengths. The Summit, in its entirety, is a tremendous experience where students are learning AND having fun.

Korf was the integral part in hosting the LCSD International Economic Summit in addition to the Economics teachers of the participating high schools and all of the community volunteers that dedicated their day to providing a successful summit. Scorekeepers and volunteers were made up from LCSD leadership personnel, LCSD Board members, local community leaders, UNR and TMCC personnel and a handful of outstanding volunteers.

The next LCSD International Economic Summit will take place on Thursday, May 21, 2020.