The Elementary Economics Teacher of the Year is Patricia Frank of Kalihi Uka Elementary School. Pat has been teaching at Kalihi Uka since 1989, the same year that her interest in economics began. She attended a Mini-Society workshop that year that introduced her to economic concepts and teaching strategies that would be evident in her teaching for years to come.

At a time when so much focus is on language arts and math, Pat Frank, understands the importance of economics. She developed and taught Ke ‘Ahupa‘a, Land Division in Hawai‘i to her fourth graders integrating language arts and economics. They studied the utilization of resources, interdependence and opportunity cost to explain consumption and production of farming and fishing. These concepts also helped them understand a typical day in the economic life of Hawai‘i in the past. The experience was an excellent introduction to economics in the real world and will have a lasting impression on her students.