Global-Minded Teens to Study International Business

For Immediate Release, May 2001
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at (630) 907-5033

AURORA, IL - This summer, 24 global-minded teens from six Illinois schools will begin their study of international business in the new Illinois International Career Academy. The program will be administered by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) with a grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The brainchild of Governor George Ryan, the International Career Academy is designed to advance the recommendations of the Governor’s Joint Task Force on International Education. The goals of the program are to stimulate and prepare Illinois high school students for academic and professional pursuits in international business and help build the workforce the state needs to compete successfully in a global economy.

Schools in the first-year pilot are Bloomington High School, Carbondale Community High School, Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IMSA in Aurora, Jones Academic College Prep in Chicago and University Laboratory High School in Urbana. Four students and one teacher from each site will participate.

The first phase of the program will be held at IMSA June 17-29. The “Thai Baht and the Price of Oil” is one of the topics. Using problem-based learning, students will explore the connections among currency valuations, interest rates, supply and demand, and colonization. They also will examine the strategic role of oil, politics and religion in the post-World War II era and explore the relationship between political stability and the private sector in world religions.

The total student experience will span three summers and two school years and include an internship with an Illinois multinational company. The International Career Academy also will offer professional development in problem-based learning for the students’ faculty sponsors.

Michael DeHaven and Robert Kiely, IMSA social science teachers, and Debra Gerdes, IMSA professional development leader for problem-based learning, are designing the curriculum. “Students will investigate a broad range of social, historical, economic and cultural foundations that are designed by educators and business leaders with practical backgrounds in each of these areas,” Gerdes said. DeHaven and Kiely will serve as the lead teachers.

IMSA President Stephanie Pace Marshall said the program will help Illinois teens interact effectively in a culturally and linguistically diverse global economy. “The International Career Academy affirms the progressive educational vision of Governor Ryan,” Marshall said. “As an institution that serves students and teachers throughout Illinois, IMSA is proud to administer this initiative on behalf of the Governor and the Board of Higher Education, and we look forward to the benefits it will produce for Illinois.”

Located in Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created by the State to develop talent and stimulate excellence in teaching and learning in mathematics, science and technology. IMSA's advanced residential college preparatory program enrolls 650 academically talented Illinois students in grades 10-12. More than 14,000 teachers and 20,000 students in Illinois and beyond have benefited from IMSA's professional development and enrichment programs. IMSA serves the people of Illinois through innovative instructional programs, public and private partnerships, policy leadership and action research.