What do the Barbie doll, Play Doh, and marshmallows have in common? For one thing, the Atlanta Fed's economic education team uses them to show classroom teachers how to help students understand economics as the everyday business of life.

"Most people say economics is about money," Princeton Williams, an Atlanta Fed outreach senior adviser, told a group of teachers during a recent class at the Bank. "Actually, economics is a lot of broad ideas about how we make choices as individuals and as a society."

The Atlanta Fed's emphasis on economic literacy is one reason Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic intends to visit with classroom teachers during his upcoming trip to Nashville, which is to be one of his frequent travels to hear first-hand from civic and business leaders about the economy in their part of the Sixth District, which comprises Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

In Nashville, the discussions are to include the planned sweeping redevelopment of a portion of a 550-acre tract of land adjacent to the Cumberland River. Oracle Corp. has announced plans to move its world headquarters to a section of this area, known as East Bank, now home to parking lots, industrial and commercial uses, and Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans. Bostic's other visits include meeting with business leaders in Williamson County and joining in a moderated chat with Fisk University Board of Trustees chair Juliette Pryor at an event cohosted by Fisk University and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Bostic's roundtable meeting with high school educators from the Nashville area will take place, coincidentally, during Economic Education Month. Bostic and teachers will discuss topics including the overall education environment; how the Atlanta Fed supports and can further assist with teaching subjects including economics, personal finance, and college and career readiness; and other topics relevant to the educational landscape.

Bostic said the knowledge he gains during these visits provides valuable insights into the real-time economy. "My job requires me to study aggregate data and that's essential," he said. "But it's important to always keep in mind that no one actually lives the averages. To truly understand how people are experiencing the economy, I get out and talk to people face-to-face. High school educators are crucial in that outreach for several reasons. For one, they are helping to shape the skills, habits, and worldview of students who will soon be making important contributions to the broader economy. Also, educators are an important part of the workforce in all of our communities, so their experiences help me better understand how labor markets are functioning."

Equipping classroom teachers with best practices on economics education is part of the Atlanta Fed's effort to promote maximum employment. People who understand how the nation's economy works are better positioned to survive and thrive, and knowing how best to allocate limited resources helps people achieve optimal outcomes in their own lives, behaving in ways that strengthen the economy.

Teachers said the lessons provided by the Atlanta Fed economics educators and their partners, in person and in virtual classes, help teachers improve the quality of lessons they deliver to students. "We break down concepts, share ideas, create lessons, and bring them into our classrooms for our students," said Christian Hardy, who teaches economics to seniors at Jackson High School, in Butts County, Georgia. "Even a nugget of information that we learn here and pass to a student in the classroom might be a breakthrough for their lives."

The Atlanta Fed has taught thousands of teachers, both in-person and online, during the two decades it's provided the train-the-trainers program. Some teachers attend multiple training programs and receive resources to share with their students. An untold number of students have received lessons on economics that were informed by the Atlanta Fed's economic educators.

In the Sixth District, every student who graduates from high school must pass a course in personal finance, which intends to help students evaluate all types of options they will face in life. Economics is required for graduation in all Sixth District states except Louisiana.

The Atlanta Fed has concluded an intensive training to teachers who are new to the Personal Finance and Economics course in Georgia. About 30 teachers spent a total of 12 hours over two days learning proven methods for teaching various aspects of economics. The program was cohosted by the Atlanta Fed and the Georgia Council on Economic Education, a nonprofit established in 1972 to help teachers teach economics and personal finance in Georgia's public and independent schools.

Two activities illustrate methods used in teaching aspects of economics. Play Doh represents a natural resource that teachers, who represent human resources, shaped in 30 seconds into snakes or donuts to demonstrate economic concepts such as choice, scarcity, opportunity costs, incentives, and trade. An exercise to teach diminishing marginal utility featured marshmallows being purchased and eaten to show that the satisfaction from eating them declined as more were consumed.

The Barbie doll lesson is part of another course, which features pop culture. Atlanta Fed educators have added to the program created by the Federal Reserve Education group, which used the timeline of Barbie's careers to show trends in women's share of the labor force and occupations. The Atlanta Fed's materials teach about everything from international trade (no Barbie dolls have ever been manufactured in the United States) to consumer behavior (for each Ken doll sold, eight to 10 Barbies are sold).

These tactile techniques will be helpful in engaging students in the material, said Rebecca Hobson, a veteran educator who is teaching economics for the first time, at Howard High School in Macon, Georgia.

"As a teacher of economics for the first time, attending the seminar in person to network with other teachers and learn fun resources to make it more fun and interesting for the kids is wonderful," Hobson said. "And we have the opportunity to come and see the museum part of the Fed and possibly bring a small group of students-that would be cool."