Brazil is looking to trade. The country has raw materials, food and consumer goods to offer. And in exchange, Brazil is hoping to find technology and business services, with just a dash of tourism.

At least that was the plan advanced on Thursday by the country’s economic advisers, in the form of local high school students honing their economics skills.

“It’s been cool to be immersed in a country’s issues,” said Evergreen High School senior and mock Brazilian Tim Madden.

Madden, along with approximately 80 other students from Evergreen and Union high schools, experienced hands-on economics in their roles as simulated advisers during the International Economic Mini Summit held Thursday in the Evergreen gymnasium.

This is the second year students studying current world issues have gathered to bargain and barter as representatives of 27 countries. The event is the culmination of an 18-week project for the students who researched social, political, and economic conditions of their assigned country in order to create a strategic plan for improving living standards.

During the summit, students presented information displays pertaining to their country and then worked to forge trade relationships with other nations.

That is all part of what the instructors and summit judges called experiential learning.

“This is exactly how students learn best,” said Anita Jinks, a district administrator who acted as a judge.

Jinks said the group work is important and she could tell that students had to pull together multiple resources in order to complete the tasks involved in the economic simulations.

Brazil’s advisers said they discovered some countries put more work into trade dynamics than other countries, which makes them more desirable in trade relationships in order to achieve strategic goals.

“It really gives you an idea of real-life relationships,” said student Dominic Mariscal.

Brazil ended up being a lead country in a trade alliance with several other countries — an experience the team said meant negotiations with peers from other classes and even different schools.

“Running around to find who works and doesn’t work with what you need is the most difficult part,” Mariscal said.

The Brazilian advisers were able to forge some mutually beneficial alliances with the United Arab Emirates and others countries after discussing each of their needs.

Students used books and online research to prepare for the summit. Part of the curriculum is provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Instructor Lisa Harvey said these experiences give students a glimpse into the economic world outside of their everyday life. It’s an experience she said creates a blueprint for future work students might pursue.

“The whole point of this is to give students economic concepts in a simulation,” Harvey said, because of the muscle memory the simulation activities create.

But those memories didn’t come without some good times and a little economic stress.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Brazilian adviser Victoria Shamrell. “But it was hectic running around getting people to join alliances.”

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