Classroom strategies and resources

About the speakers

Morgan Ackley

Ackley is an economic education advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In her role, she supports educators across the Eleventh District with professional development trainings and writes curriculum for educators in the areas of economics, finance, and college and career education. Ackley started her career in Woodinville, Washington, as a high school teacher and college and career counselor. She taught classes in AP microeconomics, AP macroeconomics, business, marketing and finance. Prior to joining the Dallas Fed, Ackley was a teacher in the Frisco Independent School District. Ackley holds a masters in economics and entrepreneurship education from the University of Delaware.

Susan Kizer

Kizer is a senior outreach advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Her work focuses on outreach to organizations and individuals within the Eleventh District, concentrating on professional development for educators. Innovative programs including Freedom Riders, Student Board of Directors, History through an Economic Lens, and 100 Teens have been the hallmark of her work at the Fed. Responding to educator and student needs, Kizer coauthored Navigate: Exploring College and Careers, The Federal Reserve, Everyday Economics and a scope and sequence for the Texas Personal Financial Literacy Social Studies course. She has served as the ExxonMobil Executive in Residence at Lamar University, providing important economic information on monetary policy and the role of the central bank. Presentations for the Texas Council for the Social Studies and National Council for the Social Studies have included the gold standard, energy, globalization, immigration and financial literacy. She serves on the boards of the Texas Council for Economic Education, Texas Jump Start and also on the Texas State CTE Advisory Board.

Melody Nicholson

Nicholson is a teacher in the Frisco (Texas) Independent School District and iWin International School. She teaches Advanced Placement (AP) economics, advanced macroeconomics and on-level economics. Over her career, she has served as a curriculum writer, department chair and instructional coach for both Frisco and McKinney Independent School Districts. Nicholson also serves as an AP reader and has graded the macroeconomics test the past four years. Prior to teaching, she worked as a conventional and direct endorsement underwriter. Nicholson received her bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Texas Tech University.

Jen Russell

Russell is an instructional technology facilitator for the Everett (Washington) School District. She develops resources and curricula with the use of technology to transform teaching and learning. She coaches teachers in order to help students meet high performance expectations and helps to implement district technology initiatives by providing support to K-12 staff. She is also a Washington State Fellow for the Financial Education Public–Private Partnership, supporting the state’s financial literacy initiative by providing professional development and guidance in integrating financial skills and content knowledge into mathematics, social studies and other courses. From 2005 to 2017, Russell was a classroom career and technical education (CTE) teacher who also trained district CTE teachers to implement 21st century skills standards. Russell earned her Principal Certification from Seattle Pacific University, a Master of Education in curriculum and technology from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Colorado.