"When I'm teaching and I know the students are learning, the phenomenon is akin to a miracle," says Denise Golden, a third-grade teacher at Seward Elementary School in Seward. As a member of the SKILLS (Seward Kids Instructional Language Learning Strategies) committee, Mrs. Golden has helped develop her school's successful literacy program designed to improve reading and studying skills. She is also responsible for Mudville, an economics program she developed to teach students about communities, supply and demand, money management and other economic and business principles. Students who are involved in this program are required to participate in a business venture either as entrepreneurs or workers. Some of the student-run projects in this program have included a newspaper, a movie theater, an art gallery and a bakery. Mrs. Golden is also the coordinator for Kid's Vote '96, a school-wide mock election.
