The Maryland Council on Economic Education is excited to announce that Renee Baylin, an accomplished classroom teacher, program leader, and content expert has been named Associate Director of Student Programs. Renee joins MCEE as Director of Student Programs as Mary Metzler retires after five years to spend more time with her family.
Renee will be responsible for the design, delivery, and success of MCEE’s hands-on K-12 student programs that are widely used by Maryland educators to engage students in learning and applying personal finance and economics skills and knowledge. As MCEE continues to broaden its partnership with the education community, Renee will identify new opportunities, including new student programs, to enhance curricular/content area instruction. She will also increase professional development and training for teachers who are interested in using MCEE programs as a learning enhancement tool.
MCEE’s teacher-led student programs are embraced by educators throughout Maryland because they help students apply what they are learning in the classroom to the real world. The programs foster positive, life-long financial behaviors and habits. MCEE student engagement programs include The Stock Market Game, where teams create and manage a virtual $100,000 portfolio of investments in real-time market conditions as they gain experience in research and decision-making while developing lifelong lessons in critical thinking and collaboration; the Maryland Personal Finance and Economics Challenges for students to learn and apply personal finance concepts and then showcase their knowledge in statewide and national competitions; and contests in which students share their personal finance and economics knowledge through poetry and art.
Renee has held positions with Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) for the past 30 years. Most recently as a Social Studies Teacher at Parkville High School, she developed and implemented United States History, American Government, and Psychology courses that integrate economics into the instruction. She also designed professional development workshops for faculty to strengthen digital learning. Renee has also served as a Resource Teacher for BCPS’s Office of Social Studies and Social Studies Department chair at a county middle school.
In addition, Renee has been the County’s facilitator for the Model UN program at Towson University for the past 16 years. She expanded the program to 19 schools by developing online and print resources for teachers to address the evolving needs of educators, students, and stakeholders.
In her five years leading MCEE’s student programs, Mary Metzler has guided significant growth of these programs, most noticeably a 50% increase for three consecutive years of the Personal Finance Challenge. She helped teachers navigate online program delivery during the COVID pandemic and oversaw the launch of MCEE’s Poetry Contest, where students create poems and songs that highlight concepts and celebrate both Financial Education Month and National Poetry Month.
“As she works with school system administrators, teachers, and partners, Renee will expand the learning opportunities available through MCEE’s student programs to help Maryland’s preK-12 educators to prepare their students with the knowledge and skills to make deliberate, informed financial decisions throughout their lives as confident and financially empowered Marylanders,” notes MCEE Executive Director Julie Weaver. “Renee’s extensive experience will give her unique insight into how to meet the needs of Maryland teachers as well as engage students in learning.”
Continued Julie, “Mary has been a strong advocate for MCEE’s innovative programs that make personal finance and economics relevant to students. Her commitment to our mission and her steadfast management has impacted thousands of educators and hundreds of thousands of children throughout the state. We’re grateful for her commitment and hard work and wish her a pleasant retirement.”
