Dennis Tynan, Nanakuli High School

Dennis introduced the first economics course to the curriculum at Nanakuli and his junior level economics course has become a semester requirement at the school. With confidence and belief in his students, he has brought his students to compete in the Economics Challenge, a competition of economics knowledge for high school students, for two consecutive years. Levi Chang, principal of Nanakuli High School said, "Because of our geographic location and the level of academic needs of our students, this type of experience is not one that is always available to our students. We are grateful that he has provided this for them."

In the two short years Dennis has been teaching in Hawai`i, he has become a strong advocate and supporter of economic education. In addition to introducing economics and the Economics Challenge to the students at Nanakuli, he gave up a week of his summer break to attend the Economics for Leaders course co-sponsored by the Foundation for Teaching Economics and the Center for Economic Education of UH- Manoa and participated in the HCEE Financial Literacy Conference. At the recent Hawai`i State Teachers Association conference, Dennis introduced a resolution to endorse the idea of making economics a requirement for all public high school.

In his application, Dennis wrote, "I can think of no more important course for students in Nanakuli to be offered than Economics. I truly believe if it is taught in a meaningful and realistic way, it can hold the key to changing anyone's life." We agree and hope your spirit is contagious and will spread to other schools.

For championing economic education and your exemplary teaching, we cannot think of a better candidate to be the Secondary Economics Teacher of the Year. I am honored to present a check for $1,000 from Hawai`i Pacific University to Dennis Tynan.