Student engagement and an innovative entrepreneurship curriculum is what makes W. E. Greiner Middle School teacher Stephen Thomas’ Principles of Business, Marketing and Finance classroom so effective.
Thomas is part of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s North Texas program, which provides business education to young students while earning high school credit. Out of 17 North Texas educators, Thomas was chosen to represent Texas at the 2015 Global Enterprising Educator of the Year Award sponsored by MasterCard. Ernst and Young sponsored a “send-off” party earlier this month for Thomas, who accepted the award March 25 at the NFTE 2015 Global Showcase in New York City. Thomas will also attend professional development workshopsat the event.
NFTE North Texas Director Karen Ezell said Thomas encourages his students to think critically and find ways to improve their community from a business standpoint.
“He is committed to the educational process of our students,” Ezell said. “He really wants them to make that connection with the real-world applications that NFTE is helping to instruct them with. He epitomizes what I call an excellent teacher.”
Greiner sixth-grade principal David Fifield said the award is well deserved. He added that he feels honored to have a hard-working educator such as Thomas on the school’s team.
Thomas’ teaching approach has proven to be successful through NFTE assessments, and the knowledge his students are gaining has prepared them for competitions such as the National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge that happened last year in Silicon Valley.
Thomas said he is proud to represent North Texas and his campus in New York City.
“I feel like I’m bringing Greiner with me, because we are a school of excellence,” he said. “I’ve got the school behind me, so it’s really a team award.”
