Kentucky students become 'Budget Heroes' at the McConnell Center

(Sept. 30, 2011) LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Approximately 40 students and teachers from Kentucky high schools try to balance the federal budget using a new web-based simulation game called 'Budget Hero.'

How difficult can it be to balance the federal budget? University of Louisville students and high school students from around Kentucky tried their hand at the task Sept. 30. They played the new web-based simulation game called "Budget Hero" to try to solve fiscal problems. The experience, said one teacher, was about helping them to think and learn.

Hon. Jane Harman, the president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former U.S. Congresswoman from California, spoke to students about the importance of the game and how it speaks beyond partisan politics. Dave Rejeski, also of the Wilson Center and co-creator of the game, discussed how figures in the game were pulled from the Congressional Budget Office. He also emphasized the importance of understanding fiscal responsibility at a young age.

Joe Arnold, a local news anchor and political blogger for WHAS 11, helped emcee the event hosted by the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville.

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