NABE/Fed High School Clubs Wrapping Up Successful Year

High school students from several public and private schools in the New York metro area are crafting their essays in the hopes of winning recognition in the competition capping their year in the Economics Club sponsored by NABE and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  The top five students will be awarded summer internships that may well convince them to study economics in college and pursue a career in the field.

This year-end competition in New York and similar programs in Boston, Houston, and Chicago mark the completion of what NABE participants and Fed education specialists regard as a highly successful year of this partnership.  The high school program is one of the educational activities supported by the NABE Foundation. (For more information about the Foundation, see the President’s Letter in this issue)

Kathleen Camilli, the board member who initiated the program for NABE, said the high school Economics Clubs program has become “a natural teaming up between NABE members who represent businesses that want to become active in their communities and Fed education specialists.”  Plus, the program introduces would-be economists to NABE and makes them aware of its many professional development programs and other resources.

This “natural match” of NABE members and Fed educators began in the fall of 2005 with New York, Boston, and Houston Federal Reserve Banks or branches and this year expanded to include Chicago. Participating Fed banks and branches recruit between 25 and 50 high school students to participate for one year and host on-site visits to the local Federal Reserve.  NABE members work with the Fed education specialists to establish curricula that include on-site visits and, in some programs, to review student papers at the end of the program year.

Lloyd Bromberg, director of education services at the New York Fed, said that the bank “likes the program and we consider it an enrichment” to its educational activities.   While there are 50 students participating in the program, typically between 30 and 40 students attend events.   Students attend both public and private schools in the New York metro area, including New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Long Island, he said.

As the final activity of this academic year, the New York students will gather the morning of May 22 at the New York Federal Reserve Bank for an oral competition, where judges will select five winners out of the top 10 who have written essays.  This year’s topic is: “How should fiscal and monetary policymakers respond to growing income inequality among Americans?”  According to Bromberg, the winners will be awarded internships: two at the New York Fed, two at Credit Suisse, and one at Standard & Poor’s.   The afternoon of May 22, the students will visit Credit Suisse for the final part of the program.

On March 23, Bromberg said the students enjoyed a special assignment during their visit to Standard & Poor’s where they were asked to give a credit rating to the online video company YouTube, which is owned by Google.  Last December, the New York club members joined a group of reporters at the Wall Street Journal, where they combed through the national employment report with journalists and observed how they research and write a news story about key government data.

Houston Planning April Event

In Houston, the NABE/Fed program will feature an April meeting with a presentation by Patrick Jankowski, the new president of the Houston Economics Club chapter of NABE. Jankowski, vice president for research, the Greater Houston Partnership, will discuss economic factors in attracting new business to Houston, according to Robbie Moses, economic education coordinator for the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“It was Job Shadowing Fed style” for the Houston club’s March meeting, which focused on career development and included talks by members of the Better Business Foundation on “job and scholarship scams and schemes,” Moses said.  There are 37 students in the Houston club, from public schools, and in February they met at the Houston Branch where they were introduced to economists and heard about their positions at the bank.

Chicago Students Visited LaSalle Bank

In Chicago, NABE/Fed high school program hosted about 15 students on Feb. 20 at LaSalle Bank’s training center, according to Tim Schilling, economic education specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  Students heard from NABE President Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist of LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO, and from Jessica De Vogue, a training consultant.

“The most recent program was at the Union League Club, where students were given an opportunity to learn a little about the economics of one of the city's oldest private clubs from the club's chief executive, Jonathan McCabe.  There were about 25 students in attendance for that meeting,” Schilling said.   NABE member Jeffrey Blumenthal, vice president, Blumenthal-Hart Ltd., has worked with the Fed to coordinate activities for this first year of the program in Chicago.

Members interested in participating in the high school economics clubs should contact Camilli or chapter presidents in the localities involved in the program.