Ashley Banks, a St. Joseph High School (Lakewood) junior, recently participated in "The Gillette Company, Economics for Leaders" program at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Banks is one of 30 students from around the country chosen for the selective program, which identifies students with leadership potential and helps them develop their skills.

The week-long course on leadership and economics teaches participants to think about human behavior in an economic way and provides the opportunity to experience the interaction of different leadership styles within a group.

The course helps students develop a clear insight into how the world works, knowledge that is especially helpful to those aspiring to leadership positions.

"Economic education for these future leaders is especially important because the costs of bad or misdirected public policies can be enormous," said Jim Klauder, Foundation for Teaching Economics vice president, a co-sponsor of the program.