St. Thomas Academy teacher
named Economics Educator of the Year

St. Thomas Academy Economics Teacher Dean Simmons was recently named the High School Economics Educator of the Year (grades 9-12) by the Minnesota Council on Economic Education. The award recognizes outstanding educators who inspire students in economic and personal finance education. Since 2000, Simmons has taught introductory and Advanced Placement micro and macroeconomics, personal finance and investing, and business marketing.

He also coaches the STA’s Personal Finance Challenge and Economics Challenge teams, and spearheaded the creation of The Cadet Fund, an actively traded, real-dollar stock market portfolio managed by seniors in his personal finance and investing class. The fund was established in 2017 with $17,000 in seed money and is now over $140,000. Distributions support the school’s student financial aid initiatives.