Ken Benson - Niwot High School

Ken Benson earned his BA in Economics and German from Colorado State University and his Masters in International Business from University of Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to teaching, Ken worked in both the technical and business side of several technology startups, and was President of a small artificial intelligence company in Boulder for 18 months. Ken has taught for 14 years, the last thirteen at Niwot High School. When he started at Niwot, he was offered a one-semester economics survey course to teach. He has since grown the offerings at Niwot to include 2 full-year Advanced Placement classes and 2 International Baccalaureate classes as well. Ken was awarded Niwot’s Educator of the Year in 2008. More recently, he received the Spotlight Award for Excellence in St Vrain Valley School District. He was one of only five educators to receive the award and the only high school teacher to be recognized. Ken sponsors the student-led Niwot High School Economics Club where his students teach elementary kids about the Circular Flow and where they Skype with best-selling author Charles Wheelan every year. Students lead weekly discussions about issues of the day and learn the real world virtues of micro-finance programs in the club. Ken has participated in economic study tours to South Africa and Peru. He has served as mentor teacher for ELC in several of its teacher training workshops. Finally, he was selected as the 2017 Koelbel Enterprising Teacher of the Year by ELC.

Donna Ecks - Doherty High School

Donna Ecks earned her BA from Colorado State University and her MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She is in her 21st year of teaching. Donna started her teaching career at St. Mary’s High School before moving to Doherty High School, where she has been for the last 18 years. In addition to teaching, Donna coached swimming and diving at both schools. Donna collaborates regularly with District 11 teachers on economic curriculum mapping and developing district assessments. Donna was also selected to collaborate on the first cut score development for the Economic Section of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam. In 2006, she was selected to by the National Council of Economic Education (NCEE) to travel to Washington DC lobby for continuing funding for economic education. She has attended two international economic study tours, one to South Africa and the other Lithuania. In 2007, Donna received the Enterprising Teacher of the year award.

Kurt Gutschick - Valor Christian School

Kurt Gutschick received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Colorado State University. Upon completion of his studies, he worked for the U.S. Senate as a staff assistant to Senator Wayne Allard. Kurt completed his Master’s degree in School Leadership and Administration from Grand Canyon University in 2006. Kurt Gutschick joined the Valor faculty in 2010, where he started the AP Economics program, along with the Valor Society of Economic Studies, which is a student-run club that brings in a variety of different speakers of local, state, and national prominence. He is a member of the Advanced Economics Roundtable, a group of Colorado economics teachers who meet annually to share best practices, resources and ideas. In his spare time Kurt also advises numerous political campaigns at the local, state, and federal level.

Della Hoffman - Place Bridge Academy

Della Hoffman is a 6th grade Newcomer Teacher at Place Bridge Academy, a magnet school for refugees in Denver Public Schools. She works with a class of English Language Learners who have been in the country for two years or less. Prior to her work at Place, she worked for three years at the Delaware Council for Economic Education where she taught programs for teachers and students relating to economic education and personal financial literacy. While in Delaware, she earned a MA in Teaching Economic Education and Entrepreneurship. In her spare time, she is an avid Zumba enthusiast and instructor.

Charles Kastens - Independence Elementary School

Charles Kastens is currently a 4th grade teacher at Independence Elementary in the Cherry Creek School District.  He has 19 years of classroom experience in the intermediate grade levels, the past 14 at Independence.  Charles has become very engaged in teaching and sharing his knowledge of the PFL standards over the past several years.  He has conducted professional development classes at the school and district levels, and has done multiple projects with CDE, including being part of the PFL Standards Revision Committee.  Charles is married to his beautiful wife Christine, and has three amazing children

Jeff Kenefsky - Cheyenne Mountain High School

Jeff Kenefsky earned is BA from the University of Oregon and an MAT from Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. He developed the required economics course at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs where he has been teaching for 16 years. He was named 2017 Cheyenne Mountain High School Teacher of the Year. Jeff sits on the Southern Partnership Council for Economic Literacy Colorado where he helped develop "What Every Teacher and Student Should Know About The Economy", a class specifically aimed at promoting economic literacy. When not discussing the benefits of trade deficits, Jeff enjoys spending time with his family, the occasional stroll up the Manitou Incline, and finding new ways to cook and enjoy sweet potatoes.

Sandy Stokely - Denver Public Schools

Sandy has been a teacher in the Denver Public Schools for over 30 years as an ELA/S teacher, teaching pre-school through eighth grade, and has been active in the district as a grant writer, mentor, peer assistant, curriculum writer and professional developer. Sandy is on the board of CoTESOL, working with other teachers of second language students, and serves as a coordinator and liaison for Whiz Kids, mentoring tutors to support student achievement. Sandy has won numerous awards including the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, Distinguished Teacher of the Year for DPS, Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholarship, and Teacher and Hispanic and Asian Councils Teacher of the Year, to name a few. She has attended many ELC classes and webinars through the years, and shares her expertise as a Mentor Teacher for Economic Literacy Colorado. Sandy loves to travel the world – she taught PFL internationally in 2019 in El Salvador – and photographs her many trips.