Staff/Faculty

Staff and Faculty . . .

Staff

Robert Clinton, President
Robert L. Clinton, a Denver native, became President of the Colorado Council on Economic Education in July 2000. He is an attorney with substantial public policy and fund raising experience. Mr. Clinton received his B.A. degree with double majors in political science and history from Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, California) in 1976. He received his J.D. (1979) and LL.M. (taxation) (1992) degrees from the University of Denver College of Law and D.U. Graduate Tax Program. He has practiced law in Colorado in the fields of estate planning, family law and commercial litigation. He also worked at the Colorado General Assembly and has held managerial positions in several political campaigns.
Heidi Conley, Vice President - heidic@ccee.net
Heidi Conley joined CCEE in October 1993 as Office Administrator. She attended Metropolitan State College of Denver’s School of Business working towards her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems. As an entrepreneur, she has developed websites professionally and owns an online business. Prior to joining CCEE she was an Assistant for the Training Department at Junior Achievement National Headquarters (Colorado Springs).
Dennis Grogan, Program Director - dgrogan@ccee.net
Dennis Grogan joined CCEE in April, 2005. He is a former classroom teacher and businessman. Mr. Grogan received an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College in 1965 and an M.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1967. He studied economic history at Dartmouth and the University of Colorado. Dennis has taught in public schools, parochial schools, and private secular schools. He has many years of experience teaching economics in his mathematics and social studies courses. He is a member of the Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Association for Gifted and Talented.

Amanda Dixon, Development/Program Associate - adixon@ccee.net
Amanda joined CCEE in March 2006. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the University of Kansas in 1998. She has a strong background in marketing, fundraising and event planning.

Audrey McKee, Executive Secretary - audreym@ccee.net
Audrey McKee joined CCEE in 1994 as Executive Secretary. She has an associate degree in business from Albany Business College. Prior to joining CCEE, she worked for Stearns-Roger Engineering Corporation (now Raytheon) for 15 years in the Architectural, Legal, and Purchasing departments. She also worked for the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance and for the New York State Retired Teachers Association in Albany.

Faculty

Paul Ballantyne, Ph.D., CU at Colorado Springs
Dr. Ballantyne, Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado since 1967, has a B.A. from the University of Southern California, M.A. University of Iowa and Ph.D. Stanford University. He taught at the University of Iowa, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado College and University of Pittsburgh in their Semester at Sea Program.

Dr. Ballantyne has received several teaching awards at the University of Colorado, including the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 1994. He was recipient of the Chancellor’s Award given for outstanding teaching, research and service, and is listed in Who’s Who in America and also in American Men and Women in Science.

He has consulted internationally with the Russian Academy of Economic Science in Moscow and with Sumy State University in Ukraine which awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2004. . He has written in the areas of monetary theory, economic development, economic education, and macroeconomics.
John Brock, Ph.D., CU at Colorado Springs

Dr. John Brock is a professor of economics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He previously served as Professor and Deputy Department Head in the Department of Economics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He received his B.S. in economics from the U.S. Air Force Academy, his M.B.A. from the University of Southern California, and his Ph.D. in economics from Cornell. He is presently Director of CCEE's Center for Economic Education at CU - Colorado Springs. Dr. Brock received the Academy's Outstanding Educator Award in 1984 and the University of Colorado's Outstanding Instructor Award in 2002. Since 1998 he has been traveling to Russia and former Soviet-bloc countries to assist educators in these transition economies with methodologies for teaching market economics. On several trips to Russia and Eastern Europe, funded by grants from the National Council on Economic Education, Dr. Brock took four Colorado high school economics teachers to conduct workshops and to form classroom partnerships with schools in these countries. He has written extensively about using experimental economics teaching methods in the classroom, and has developed a handbook for implementing these techniques.
Morgan Bridge, Ph.D., Mesa State College

Dr. Morgan Bridge is an Associate Business Administration Professor and Director of CCEE's Center for Economic Education at Mesa State College in Grand Junction. Dr. Bridge came to Mesa State in 1995 from the Nebraska Council's Center for Economic Education at Chadron State College. She received her bachelor's degree in history from Chadron State College, her master's degree in business administration from Chadron, and her Ph. D. from the University of Wyoming.
Phyllis Bye, Retired Master Teacher

Phyllis Clarke Bye is a retired Social Studies Curriculum specialist for the Boulder Valley School District. She has served on the Board of the National Council for the Social Studies, President of the Board of the Social Science Education Consortium, and President of the Colorado Council for the Social Studies. She presently serves on the Economics and the Civic/Government Model Content Standards writing committees appointed by the Colorado Department of Education. She also sits on the Governor's Board for Law Related Education. Among her many awards is the 1988 Enterprising Teacher of the Year Award and Colorado's Outstanding Elementary Teacher in the Social Studies. She received her B.A. from the University of Colorado. Ms. Bye teaches elementary social studies education throughout the country. She has trained more than 1,800 Mini-Society teachers for the Colorado Council on Economic Education.
Dale DeBoer, Ph.D., CU at Colorado Springs

Dr. Dale DeBoer is Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He received his B.A. from the University of Washington, his M.A. and Ph. D. in economics from the University of California at Davis. He is the recipient of four teaching awards including the University of Colorado's Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 1999. Dr. DeBoer is currently working on the integration of online instructional tools into the economics curriculum and researching the macroeconomic implications of the information technology revolution. He has served as a consultant to several information technology start-ups and to the national assessment effort of the Early Head Start Assessment Project

Rex Duncan, Grand Junction High School

Rex Duncan is an economics teacher at Grand Junction High School. He recently returned from the United Kingdom where he served as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher. Mr. Duncan received CCEE's 1999 Enterprising Teacher of the Year award for excellence in economic education. Among many professional responsibilities, he initiated the Advanced Placement Economics course for the Mesa County Valley School District, serves as a leader in the development of the District's economic curriculum, and is an adjunct professor at Adams State College.
Don Fell, FTE Education Consultant
Jay Grenawalt, Heritage High School, Littleton

Jay Grenawalt teaches AP economics at Heritage High School in Littleton. He is a leader in Colorado's IB movement and instructs at IB teacher institutes throughout the U.S. Among his many teaching awards is the 1990 Enterprising Teacher of the Year, the 1990 Award for Excellence in Teaching International Studies, the Excellence in Teaching Economics Award, the Boettcher Foundation Teacher Recognition Award, and the Distinguished Teacher Award conferred by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Mr. Grenawalt received his teaching degree and M.A. in Russian History from the University of Northern Colorado.
Marc Johnson, Cherry Creek School District

Marc Johnson has been teaching since 1985 and has taught students from grade seven through and including community college, in both public and private institutions. He has taught at Cherry Creek School District since 1989, and is currently the social studies coordinator at the newest, just-opened high school in the district, Cherokee Trail. Mr. Johnson has a B.A. in Political Studies and English from Regis College (before it became the University) and an M.A. in Education from the University of Colorado at Denver. In 2002, Mr. Johnson participated in the first Partnership Study Tour to St. Petersburg, Russia, conducted by Dr. John Brock of CCEE’s Center for Economic Education at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He began taking CCEE courses from Paul Ballantyne and Tim Tregarthen in 1985 and has been returning, to absorb, discuss, even occasionally argue, ever since.
Mike Kraft, Cherry Creek High School, Aurora

Michael Kraft has been teaching high school social studies since 1990. He spent ten years in Indianapolis, Indiana teaching economics, U.S. history, and Interdisciplinary Studies at Lawrence North High School. During that time, his duties included teaching college-level microeconomics to his high school students as an adjunct professor for Indiana University. He now teaches U.S. history, Advanced Placement U.S. history, and A.P. microeconomics at Cherry Creek High School. Mr. Kraft received his B.A. from Stanford University in Economics and International Relations and an M.S. in Education from Indiana University. Mike traveled to Japan as a Keizei Koho Fellow in 1993. He successfully completed his National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification in Social Studies/History in 2001.
Judy Kurtz, Legacy High School, Broomfield

Judy Kurtz holds a BA in English from Cornell University and an MA in Liberal Arts from St. John=s College. She has been teaching for 20 years, mostly for Adams 12 Five Star Schools and currently teaches at Legacy High School. She also taught at Horizon High School, Steamboat Springs High School, and Montessori School in San Antonio, TX. In addition to teaching English, geography, economics, American and world history, Ms. Kurtz has been active in the Colorado Geographic Alliance, the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Annenberg Foundation National School Reform Faculty, and in curriculum development for the AP Human Geography program and for a high school level of the Judson Montessori School. Ms. Kurtz was instrumental in developing the CCEE program, Wine, Cheese & Economics: A Book Club with Graduate Credit. Geography program and for a high school level of the Judson Montessori School.
Barry Poulson, Ph.D., CU at Boulder

Dr. Barry Poulson is a professor of economics, former Department Chairman, and Director of CCEE's Center for Economic Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His special interests are constitutional economics, economic history, and economic development of the U.S. and developing nations. He is the author of a widely used college text, Economic History of the United States, and more recently, Economic Development: Private and Public Choice. He received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, and his M.A. and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Dr. Poulson was a Fulbright Professor at Atonomous University, Guadalajara in 1976 and Visiting Professor, Carlos III University, Madrid in 1995.
Kathy Ratté, PERC

Kathy Ratté is a former economics and civics/government curriculum specialist for the Jefferson County School District. She received the 1991 Enterprising Teacher of the Year Award, the Freedoms Foundation Award, the Excellence in Economic Education Award, and the National Council on Economic Education Curriculum Award presented at the White House in 1994. She teaches economic education throughout the U.S., Czechoslovakia and Poland for the Foundation for Teaching Economics and the Political Economy Research Center. Ms. Ratté teaches economic education throughout the country.
Robert Reinke, Ph.D., FTE Education Consultant
Curt Smith, Liberty High School, Colorado Springs
Donald Wentworth, Ed.D., Pacific Lutheran University, Washington

Professor of Economics and Education at Pacific Lutheran University, he formerly served as Executive Director of the Washington Council on Economic Education. Dr. Wentworth holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. in economics from the University of Illinois. He is the author of numerous publications including Economics Scenes, a college textbook now in its fourth education. He has written several exceptional sets of instructional materials for the National Council on Economic Education including The Capstone, Eyes on the Economy, Eco-Detectives and Focus: U.S. History. Dr. Wentworth excels in presenting active, highly effective (and often humorous) teaching strategies.
Lisa Vogt, ThunderRidge High School, Highlands Ranch

Lisa Vogt teaches humanities-integrated economics and government at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, where she team-teaches with an English instructor. Examples of their collaborative projects include teaching students speech and argumentation skills to role-play school board members and debate the economic value of budget decisions for a school district. In 2003, Ms. Vogt was named CCEE's Enterprising Teacher of the Year. She has been teaching since 1984, and holds a master's degree in special education from the University of Northern Colorado. In 2002, Ms. Vogt participated in the first Partnership Study Tour to St. Petersburg, Russia, conducted by Dr. John Brock, Director of CCEE's Center for Economic Education at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.