Teacher Alumni Spotlight – Tamela West

In 2012, I was an English, speech and drama teacher who had been teaching for about 25 years.  Some fellow teachers were going to attend an FTE class on The Environment and the Economy here in Boise and they talked me into attending.  Having absolutely no experience in economics other than balancing my checkbook (which was my understanding of economics at the time), I decided to attend just for the experience, and, of course, to pick up a credit.  Little did I know what I would learn from Don Fell and the other professors.  It was an incredible class, and, all of a sudden, I started to see a relationship between what I read in the news and what I had learned in the class. Economics was a new interest to me.

When FTE brought The Right Start to Boise, I knew that I had to attend the class.  If it were anything like The Environment and the Economy class, it would be a wealth of information and extremely well taught. Again, it did not disappoint.  They know how to make it interesting and relevant with real world simulations and projects that force you to make economic decisions as a group.

As time went on, I realized that I was incorporating everything that I learned in the FTE classes to what I was seeing in life and in the news.  I decided to pursue certification and teach what I had learned in my classes.

Last year, I worked for and earned certification in business and now teach entrepreneurship, speech and leadership.  I love what I am doing and have continued to take FTE classes to enhance my coursework.

I think educators love to learn which is why they have gone into teaching. If FTE can incite the passion to learn an entirely different field, just think what an incredible resource they are to the people who already have a passion for economics.  Thank you FTE!!

-Tamela West (The Environment and the Economy- 2012,  Right Start in Teaching Economics -2013, Fundamentals of Environmental Economics- 2017)