The Mississippi Council of Economic Education (MCEE) announces the following professional development and student programs beginning in January 2026.
Teaching the Trade – Investing for Future Financial Success
Description: Empower your students with financial literacy through The Stock Market Game! This dynamic workshop is designed for fourth-12th grade teachers looking to integrate practical investing concepts into their classrooms. Explore how to guide students in understanding the fundamentals of the stock market, making informed financial decisions, and fostering long-term wealth-building skills. Gain hands-on experience with lesson plans, interactive activities, and strategies to bring real-world economics to life. Join us and help shape financially savvy future leaders.
For: 4-12 grade teachers
Where: Cleveland, MS; Delta State University
Requirements:
- Attendance at the full workshop
- Web-connected device (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone)
When: Jan. 31, 2026; from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
What’s in it for me? No registration fee, Lunch provided, 0.6 CEU’s at no cost, teacher incentives of $10 per team played in Spring 2026 trading session for the purchase of classroom supplies (up to $250)**
Registration Deadline: Jan. 28, 2026
Registration Link: https://www.mscee.org/teacher-workshops
Contact: 601-974-1325; mscee@millsaps.edu
Econiful Webinar Series
Description: Kick off the new year with a set of engaging, classroom-ready professional development sessions designed to help you bring economics to life for your students. Each 60-minute Zoom workshop runs from 4 – 5 p.m. Each session provides at least two ready-to-teach lesson plans from Econiful’s high-school curriculum. Attend all six sessions and earn 0.6 CEU’s at no cost to you. (Cameras on for credit/must attend a minimum of 5 to earn CEU’s). A $25 gift card will be provided to teachers that attend 5-plus live webinars.
REGISTRATION LINK: https://www.mscee.org/teacher-workshops
- Jan. 7, 2026- Empowering Students with Economic Thinking Skills: Help students see the real-world value of economic thinking. We’ll dig into three complete lesson plans that teach four core economic principles students can apply in their daily lives.
- Jan. 14, 2026- Mastering the Production Possibilities Frontier: Models matter and the PPF is one of the most powerful. Explore three hands-on lessons that guide students through opportunity cost, efficiency, tradeoffs, and economic growth.
- Jan. 21, 2026- The Magic of Markets: Supply, demand, and product markets become much clearer when students experience them firsthand. You’ll get six lessons that use simulations and current events to deepen understanding.
- Feb. 18, 2026- A Big Picture Approach to Teaching Monetary and Fiscal Policy: Skip the overly technical details and focus on what students really need. This session offers five interactive lessons that help students grasp stabilization policy through accessible, big-picture activities.
- March 18, 2026- Why Are Some Nations Richer than Others?: Help students explore the factors that actually move the needle on economic growth and living standards. You’ll participate in activities from a brand-new set of lesson plans on economic development.
- March 25, 2026- Teaching International Trade with Clarity and Confidence: Trade has been all over the news, so make it easier for your students to understand the benefits and costs. This session provides a free set of lessons to bring trade concepts to life.
Owning the Dash Webinar
Description: Join us for the Owning the Dash webinar, a professional development opportunity for K-3 teachers and elementary librarians. This webinar will introduce educators to the DASH Financial Literacy Kit, a dynamic resource designed to make teaching financial concepts fun and interactive. Participants will learn how to use award-winning picture books and interactive learning tools, including the Spending Shuffle card game, to teach children key financial principles like budgeting, supply and demand, scarcity, and delayed gratification. The lessons have also been aligned with state economics standards. Attendees will receive their own Financial Literacy Kit- a $150 value- including six picture books, lesson plans, video guides, discussion questions, and more, all neatly organized in a colorful, durable storage box. Space is limited to 10 teachers.
For: K-3 Teachers and Elementary Librarians ONLY
Where: Online via Zoom
Requirements:
- Attendance at the full webinar with camera on!
- Web-connected device (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone)
When: Jan. 24, 2026; 9 a.m. to noon
What’s in it for me? No registration fee, DASH Financial Literacy Kit ($150 value)
Contact: 601-974-1325; mscee@millsaps.edu
Registration Deadline: Jan. 22, 2026
Registration Link: https://www.mscee.org/teacher-workshops
Spring 2026 Master Teacher of Economics
Description: The Master Teacher of Economics (MTE) is our flagship program, created to bridge the gap between what educators know and what they need to know. In addition to improving teaching skills, the MTE improves a teacher’s ability and practice of being a good critical thinker. MTEs will have more ability and confidence to empower their students’ critical thinking capacity to make better choices as they plan their personal finance goals. Successful MTEs will understand why economics education is valuable and learn how to present the content in an engaging manner; have the ability to mentor students in making economic and personal finance decisions; articulate answers to the essential questions related to making college and career ready decisions; recognize good economics informational text; and improve in structuring learning experiences. The MTE was developed to be an example that teachers could replicate in their classrooms to meet best practices in engaging students to integrate critical thinking into their lives.
For: The MTE program has been designed for Mississippi teachers of the following grade levels/subject areas:
- 9-12 Economics
- 9-12 U.S. History
- 9-12 Government
- 9-12 Business
- 9-12 Personal Finance
- 6-8 Social Studies
- 6-8 Business
*Acceptance is not guaranteed.
*No elementary level teachers will be accepted to this program.
Where: The MTE is an online course (estimated 75 hours).
When: Feb. 7, 2026 – May 10, 2026
- Synchronous – Orientation; Virtual via Zoom- Saturday, February 7, 2026 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.**
- Asynchronous – Assignments completed by May 10, 2026
**Attendance and full participation in orientation with your camera ON is required. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Requirements:
- Submit online application
- Agreement to cancellation policy (applications without this will not be reviewed)
- If accepted, a contract will be provided to you and your principal to sign prior to orientation.
- Attendance and full participation in the Virtual Orientation Session with your camera on
- Web-connected device (e.g., computer, tablet)
- Ability to download and upload documents
- Microphone and camera
Commitment: Our sponsors strongly believe in the importance of providing high quality economics instruction to Mississippi students. Their support is provided with the expectation that you will work to incorporate what you learn in your classroom, including participation with your students in the Online Economics Challenge. Once you have completed the MTE program you will be required to participate in the Online Economics Challenge within one year.
Benefits: Teachers accepted to the program who successfully complete the course will be provided with the following within 30 days of the course completion date:
- 7.5 CEUs
- Access to student course shell
- $250 stipend: Payable only to eligible teachers. See payment schedule below.
- 193 economics endorsement on license (Click here to see qualifications)
Registration Deadline: Jan. 26, 2026 . Priority will be given to teachers of high school Economics, U.S. History and any CTE Business Program. If the class is not full, teachers of other eligible grade levels/subject areas will be considered for acceptance.
Registration Link: https://www.mscee.org/master-teacher-programs#MasterTeacherofEconomics
Contact: mscee@millsaps.edu
Mississippi Stock Market Game (SMG)- Spring 2026 Trading Session
The Mississippi Stock Market Game (SMG) is a simulation of a real market, designed to involve students in the world of finance and investing as a means of helping them learn about how a market economy works. Student teams of 3 to 5 students invest a hypothetical $100,000 in stocks and compete for the best portfolio performance. There are two separate programs each year; one in the Fall and one in the Spring.
The program is available to all public and private students throughout the state of Mississippi in grades 4 through 12. The program is adaptable for many different classes, including social studies, mathematics, economics, business, technology, gifted, and club activities. Students learn to develop team strategies, make decisions, and become informed about investment and economic terms. They also learn to see the connection between world events and their investments.
Your students will have entered the world of business and finance by participating in The Stock Market Game program. The perfect companion, the teacher-designed writing component and competition, reinforces their newfound knowledge and hones critical thinking skills. Click here for more information on InvestWrite.
Teacher training on using the program is available to teachers to help them in facilitating the program in their classroom. This workshop all new Stock Market Game 2.0 Workshop is online, on demand and FREE. Teachers who complete the training will receive 0.5 CEU’s at no cost. For more information and to register click here.
2025-2026 Trading Dates
Spring 2026: Jan. 5, 2026 – April 3, 2026
Year Long Game: Sept. 2, 2025 – May 29, 2026
Visit https://www.mscee.org/stock-market-game to learn more and register teams of 3-5 students (4th-12th grade) at NO COST.