Early College team vying for spot in finals of National Personal Finance Challenge
The four Lenoir County Early College High School students vying for a spot in the finals of the National Personal Finance Challenge are, from left, Alima Stocks, Maria Santiago, Hannah Van and Kayden See.
With two preliminary round wins, a team of four rising juniors from Lenoir County Early College High School have earned the right to compete for a spot in the finals of the National Personal Finance Challenge, one of only two teams in the state and 24 in the nation still in the running.
Coached by social studies teacher Dr. Travis Towne, the team of Alima Stocks, Kayden See, Hannah Van and Maria Santiago put their financial analysis skills on display via Zoom in the semi-final round Tuesday. Results of that round will be revealed later this week.
The four teams chosen for the finals get an all-expense-paid trip to New York City on June 5. The winning team receives a cash award of $2,000. As winners of the state semi-finals, the four team members each won $250 scholarships.
“Obviously, I’m very proud of them,” Towne said during a break in a virtual practice session with his team.
“I wasn’t expecting to make it this far, but I think the main thing that helped us get here was believing in ourselves and trusting our knowledge. In a way, I can see it as a big step to our future,” Maria Santiago said.
The National Personal Finance Challenge provides high school students the opportunity to build and demonstrate their knowledge of money management. Teams showcase their expertise in the concepts of earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit and managing risk, according to the competition’s website. The challenge is sponsored by the Council for Economic Education.
In the first two rounds, competitors completed written tests. The national semi-final round, or case study round, is markedly different. Teams have to analyze an individual’s or a family’s financial situation – they don’t know the details until they’re in the competition – and make recommendations for putting them on firm financial footing.
“They’re basically financial planners,” Towne said. “They’re going to talk about taxes, where to put their investments, paying off debt and how to make sure they take the money they’re getting in and dispersing it well. That encompasses all of personal finance.”
The team has two hours to analyze the particulars of the case and 15 minutes to make a presentation to judges.
They’re prepared not only by their practice sessions but also by what they learned in Towne’s financial literacy class, team members agreed.
“When we were in Dr. Towne’s class learning about personal finance, it really helped us in our challenge,” Alima Stocks said. “The questions on the tests were really similar to what he does in class. I think having his class gave us a push up.”
“Being able to participate with our teacher kind of puts us at an advantage,” Kayden See said. “He’s taken classes on this, so he can teach us. It’s extra knowledge.”
North Carolina is one of 12 state to make economics and personal finance instruction a requirement for high school graduates, according to Towne. He’s augmented his classroom instruction by encouraging his students’ involvement in competitions and challenges. This past semester, 13 Early College students participated in the Stock Market Game, an online simulation of the global capital market, and 12 joined in the Personal Finance Challenge or the National Economics Challenge.
Along the way, they’ve established the fact that women are better financial planners, the four young women said, and they’ve learned some life lessons.
“Personal finance is something you need to know, whether or not you want to do something with it in the future, like start a business,” Alima said.
“Learning about this stuff helps prepare us for adulthood,” Hanna Van said. “A lot of people who don’t take economics classes tend to go headfirst and tend to make a lot of mistakes in the financial world and can sometimes find themselves in difficult situations.”
