Northern Michigan University’s Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship (CEEE) presented its inaugural U.P. Economic Education Teacher of the Year Award to Erika Fix, a high school social studies teacher with Gladstone Area Public Schools. She was honored at a CEEE advisory board luncheon held June 17 on NMU’s campus. 

Fix is an NMU alumna with 14 years of classroom experience. She also has organized and advised numerous extracurricular activities, including the Economics Challenge, Personal Finance Challenge, Quiz Bowl, Art Club and Michigan Youth in Government. She coached the top U.P teams competing in this year’s National Economic Challenge and in the National Personal Finance Challenge. The latter finished fourth at the state level among 187 teams throughout Michigan.

“Erika has taken advantage of the resources the center has to offer,” said Hugo Eyzaguirre, director of the CEEE. “She took two professional development courses co-organized by the Michigan Council on Economic Education and our center on Mackinac Island. She also led a successful and innovative personal finance program in Gladstone that now is being replicated across the United States: Adopt a School [#BuildFinancialFutures]. We believe it is extremely important to recognize the efforts teachers in our region are making to improve economic and financial literacy.”

He said Fix’s current projects include expanding seniors’ knowledge of personal finance, exploring the development of an AP government program at Gladstone High School and building a website to be used by parents, students and fellow teachers.