NEW YORK – A team from Ardrey Kell High School won the North Carolina state championship and national semifinal rounds in the National Personal Finance Challenge.
The Ardrey Kell team scored an all-expense-paid trip to New York City in June to compete with three other teams in the national finals.
Organized by the Council for Economic Education, the National Personal Finance Challenge allows high school students to demonstrate mastery of earning, spending, saving, investing and managing credit and risk.
“Learning personal finance skills while still in high school sets young people on a path to success throughout their lives,” said Nan Morrison, president and CEO of Council for Economic Education. “Students from schools who have access to personal finance courses get a great head start on life. We congratulate the Ardrey Kell team, wish them well in the New York finals and tip our hats to their educators and our affiliate, the North Carolina Council on Economic Education.”
Only 24 states require students to take a course in personal finance to graduate, according to the Council for Economic Education. Broader access across the United States would level the playing field for all students to make informed decisions and lead the lives they aspire to have, Morrison said.
Ardrey Kell’s team will compete in the finals with teams from Applications and Research Lab school (Ellicott City, Maryland), Germantown High School (Madison, Mississippi) and Land O’Lakes High School (Florida).
Teams at the June 5 finals will have only two hours to analyze a hypothetical family scenario and create a meaningful financial plan. Each member of the winning team will receive $2,000, with cash prizes of $1,000, $500 or $250 for each team member taking home second, third and fourth place national honors.
Voya Financial sponsors the national competition.
“The National Personal Finance Challenge encourages and allows students of any income level to learn how financial education makes a difference in forging paths to financial security for themselves, their families and their communities,” said Braeden Mayrisch, an executive with Voya Foundation.