Twenty-three of Mr. Rodney Gerdes’s AP Macro Economics students took their second annual field trip to the Forecaster’s Luncheon on Oct. 22 at the Clayton Plaza Hotel which was run by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

This black tie event was invitation only, but Gerdes’s spot on the Educational Advisory Board landed them 25 tickets and a chance to listen to businessmen and women speak about the future of economy.

Though some might argue that these professions are male-dominated, two of the four speakers were female, and this gave the woman in the class something to connect to and aim for.

Some of the speakers included Kate Warne, member of the research department at Edward Jones, and Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, who is a professor of business at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business University of Michigan and was the former Chief Global Economist at Ford Motor Company.

“It was nice having the opportunity to attend such an event,” Madison Aubuchon (12) says, “and the learning experience was once in a lifetime.”

This day out of class was able to put the students into real life scenarios where they saw how what they were learning in the classroom can be applied to real life.

“I believe the kids learned a lot and are now able to see how much of an impact they can have,” Gerdes says.