Amy Hennessy will have quite the travel story to tell her students when she returns from summer vacation.

The John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School economics teacher will spend two weeks in South Africa, immersed in its culture and learning about its emerging economic system.

"It will be an absolutely incredible experience," Mrs. Hennessy said. "The more you bring in real life, the more you make (teaching) genuine."

The Council for Economic Education is paying for 24 teachers throughout the country to travel to Washington, D.C., for a couple of days of meetings with the U.S. Department of Education, Department of State and officials from South Africa.

The teachers will then be flown to Johannesburg, South Africa, to spend two weeks exploring the country, observing economics classes and networking with teachers.

The South African economy is particularly interesting because it is the strongest of any African nation, Mrs. Hennessy said, yet it has challenges rooted in its history of apartheid.

The trip will also better enable teachers to put the American economy in perspective, she said, noting that 25 percent of black South Africans are unemployed.

"This is a horrible time economically, but it's a great time to teach this stuff," Mrs. Hennessy said.

The expectation is that teachers who go on the trip will write papers about their experiences, enhance their classroom lessons, develop lesson plans for other teachers and conduct professional development workshops, she said.

"I'm really stoked," she said.

Georgia is one of only 17 states that requires students to take an economics class before graduating, according to a 2007 report by the Council for Economic Education.

Earlier this school year, Mrs. Hennessy was named the Georgia Council on Economic Education teacher of the year.