California Association of School Economics Teachers, CASET
Join the only group of California teachers dedicated to helping one another effectively teach the economics strand of the California K–12 History/Social Science Standards to students. With California Association of School Economics Teachers, CASET (pronounced “cassette”):
You can expect to:
- Share best practices and learn from other teachers
- Receive quarterly newsletters featuring topics on economics and personal finance
- Be the first to get new materials and notices of upcoming workshops
- Access lesson plans that incorporate the Economics Strand of the California History/Social Sciences Standards. Download PDF: CA Standards Brochure PDF
Helping teachers since 1994
CASET was founded by two California high school economics teachers, Donna McCreadie and Sue Weaver, with the encouragement and assistance of the California Council on Economic Education and its Executive Director, Jim Charkins.
Donna, Sue and Jim’s vision was to help California K–12 teachers become more effective at teaching economics by providing infrastructure and support. They knew that teaching economics could be exciting and relevant to students through meaningful lessons to help them understand the impact of economics on themselves and those around them.
California Association for School Economics Teachers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
2010 Board of Directors
Brian Shank – President
- Teaches economics, and is Social Studies Dept Chair at Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs
- Graduated from UC Santa Barbara, 1974; teaching for 27 years, including one year teaching in Andorra
- Won the State Championship, David Ricardo Division, of the Goldman Sachs Federal Reserve Economics Challenge twice; and the CCEE Adam’s Apple Award
- Runner-up at the Western Regional twice
- Selected for the national Council on Economic Education’s Foreign Study Tour to Ukraine and Lithuania where he observed and consulted with educators in the field of Economic Education in those former Soviet Republics.
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Gifford Asimos – First Vice President
- Serves as a teacher and School-to-Career Coordinator at Helix Charter High School in San Diego
- Teaches AP Economics, Economics and Virtual Enterprise and serves as an Adjunct Economics Professor at Cuyamaca Junior College
- Serves on the Economics Education Foundation of San Diego Board of Directors as a Teacher Representative and Treasurer
- Named Helix Charter High School Teacher of the Year in 2003–2004
- Recently won the Key to Change Publishing Pathways to Excellence Award
- Completed undergraduate studies in Business Economics at Colorado College, Business Education teaching credential from the University of Colorado at Denverm, M.B.A. from National University
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Greg Fisher – Secretary
- Social studies teacher for the last 18 years, currently teaches at the California Academy of Math and Science in Carson, California
- Won the CFALA Teacher of the Year and CCEE Adam’s Apple Awards
- Committed to economic education in California as an active CASET Board member, a former GSE Economics reader, a NASDAQ Award Semi-Finalist, a Capital Markets Contest winner and a previous presenter at CASET conferences
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Dawn Cushing – Treasurer
- Teaches at Cucamonga Middle School for the past 26 years, instructs for CSUSB and National University
- CASET Board member since 1996
- Active in promoting economic education and teacher in-servicing
- Awarded the Economics Educator of the Year Award (K–8) in 1997, the Inland Empire Economics Teacher of the Year in 2002 and the Adam’s Apple Award in 2008
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Joanne Benjamin – Board Member
- Taught a variety of courses and received many awards during her 25-year career at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, California
- Mayor and Council member for the Town of Los Gatos for 16 years
- Content developer for online AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics courses, economics item writer for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and consultant to a number of organizations for economic curriculum and lesson plans
- Advisory Boards for the Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
- Multiple bachelor’s degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a secondary school teaching credential from the University of California, Berkeley
- Past president of CASET
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Kim Gibbs – Board Member
- Adjunct instructor at Cuyamaca College teaching Economic Issues and Policies
- Co-director for the San Diego Center for Economic Education at Cuyamaca College.
- M.A. in Economics and Entrepreneurship for Educators from the University of Delaware and completed undergraduate work in Elementary Education at the University of Northern Iowa
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Brian Held – Board Member
- Teaches AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, and World History at Loyola High School of Los Angeles
- Varsity Soccer Assistant Coach
- AP Grader in Economics in 2005 and 2006
- Masters in Economics & Global Economics from California State University, Los Angeles
- Masters in Education, Instruction Technology from Grand Canyon University and his B.A. from Georgetown University
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Roland Lewin – Board Member
- Twenty years teaching economics and math, 14 at Dos Pueblos High School in the Santa Barbara High School District
- Dos Pueblos won the 2006 Los Angeles Capital Markets Contest
- Coached Economics Challenge teams that have won the Southern California championship seven years in a row; won the California State championship five out of last six years; and placed second in the nation in 2002
- CASET board member since 2001, 1999 co-winner of the $5,000 Excellence in Economics Education Award from the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE)
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Sharon Turner – Board Member
- Retired teacher and past president of CASET
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Maury Zapata – Board Member
- Teaches economics at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, CA
- Advanced Placement reader for the College Board in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2003 and 2004
- David Ricardo Econ Challenge teams won the Southern California and State competitions in 2004 and 2005
- Team won the Western Regional Econ Challenge and placed fourth in the national competition in New York City
- CASET board member since 2005, assisted in organizing the annual CASET conference
- Assistant Coach for the Lincoln High Academic Decathlon team
- B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, M.A. in Economics from the California State University, Los Angeles
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Petar Zegura – Board Member
- Teacher at Moreau Catholic High School since 1973
- Implemented an interdisciplinary/cross-curricular emphasis on economic education, economic concepts, and an economic way of thinking
- Advocate for economic education with local chambers of commerce and Rotary clubs
- Presented at economic education workshops for the Center for Economic Education at California State University, East Bay
- Worked to increase the networking among San Francisco Bay area economics teachers and provide access to materials, strategies, and professional development opportunities, particularly for new economics teachers
- Field-tested new materials for CEE as well as participated in International Program
- Provided advice and counsel to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on the development of new publications; recipient of the 2006 Adam’s Apple Award
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Jim Charkins – CCEE Liaison
- CCEE executive director
- Author of the Teacher Guide to the California Economics Standards
- Commisioner – California State Board of Education Commission to rewrite the California History/Social Science Framework
- Author of MoneyWiseTeen
- Economics advisor to State Board of Education California History/Social Science Standards
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Do something for yourself today, Join CASET
California Council on Economic Education