St. Louis-Area Teachers Receive a History Lesson from Chairman Bernanke

ST. LOUIS – About 75 local educators will hear a teleconference presentation next week by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. As the Chairman’s term ends in January, this will be one of his last public appearances in that role.

The presentation will focus on the history of the Federal Reserve and will take place at 6 p.m. CT on Nov. 13, 2013. Local teachers will participate in the teleconference from an event at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and they will be able to submit questions for Chairman Bernanke online during the presentation. Other teachers will participate from sites around the country.

Prior to the Chairman’s presentation, St. Louis Fed staff will demonstrate to teachers a sampling of classroom-ready lessons on Federal Reserve history from 1913-2012.

Members of the media who want to attend the St. Louis teleconference should register with Laura Girresch at 314-444-6166 or laura.e.girresch@stls.frb.org.

“This is an exciting opportunity for educators to hear the Chairman of the Federal Reserve talk about the institution’s history,” said Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed. “It doesn’t get much better than that, in terms of a ‘primary source.’”

The educators participating in the local teleconference will come from several area schools, including: Marquette High School, Webster Groves High School, Living Water Academy, Principia School, Barat Academy, Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School, RII School District (Louisiana, Mo.), St. Louis Public Schools (Gateway STEM), Farmington High School and Edwardsville High School. College educators from the following schools will also participate: St. Charles Community College, University of Missouri—St. Louis, Maryville University, Lindenwood University, McKendree University, Murray State University, Saint Louis University and Webster University.

The St. Louis Fed’s Economic Education department, which is hosting the St. Louis event, offers free downloadable lesson plans, interactive whiteboard activities, videos and online courses for classrooms ranging from elementary school to college, as well as educational resources for the general public. The St. Louis Fed’s economic education courses and curriculum have reached nearly 375,000 students nationwide. All of the materials are available at http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/.