Education Resources

Student Competitions

Personal Finance Challenge

These Eighth District states currently hold personal finance challenges for teams of high school students: Arkansas | Illinois | Missouri | Tennessee

This year the National Personal Finance Competition is being held in St. Louis, Mo. on May 16, 2011. For additional information visit www.cas.umkc.edu/mcee/.

Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge

It's not how much you earn; it's what you do with it that matters. Students across Arkansas are gaining knowledge and developing the skills needed to make financial decisions that will make their economic futures brighter. The Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge is an opportunity for high school students to demonstrate their knowledge of personal finance by competing with other students across the state.

Team Registration Deadline | March 31, 2011
To participate, teachers must register and begin creating teams.

Multiple Choice Online Qualifier | April 4-8, 2011
Teams of four students each will compete online to decide which teams progress to the state competition.

State Championship | April 28, 2011
The two top-scoring teams from each of six regions in the state will compete for the state championship.

National Personal Finance Competition | May 16, 2011
The state champion will be invited to participate in the National Personal Finance Competition against the winning teams from other participating states.

Learn more and register at www.economicsarkansas.org.

Sponsors: Economics Arkansas and the Centers for Economic Education with support from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' Little Rock and Memphis branches.

Illinois Personal Finance Challenge

Personal finance teachers, here's an opportunity to:

recognize students who demonstrate high levels of comprehension and application of personal finance concepts and skills;
engage students more fully in their learning;
assess how well your students are meeting the state mandate; and
provide an exciting academic competition activity for your students.

The Competition

Preliminary Round — Teams of high school students, four students per team, take an online test of 30 questions. Qualifying teams advance to the next level.
State Championship — Twenty teams attend the state competition in Chicago to determine the two finalists through a series of written tests. The two finalists compete in a quiz bowl to determine the state champion team.

Awards

First place — Each of the four team members and their teacher/sponsor receive $500 Series I U.S. Savings Bonds, medals and a school trophy.

Second place — Each of the four team members and their teacher/sponsor receive $250 Series I U.S. Savings Bonds and medals.

All 20 state championship teams — Each participant receives an Illinois Personal Finance Challenge T-shirt and a certificate of recognition.

All participants (including online preliminary round) — All schools participating receive a certificate of recognition.

For more information, go to www.econed-il.org/icee/ipfc.shtml.

Sponsors — The Illinois Council on Economic Education, in conjunction with its Centers for Economic Education throughout the state, with support from the Federal Reserve banks of Chicago and St. Louis; endorsed by Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

Missouri Personal Finance Challenge

The Missouri Personal Finance Challenge is of special interest to anyone teaching the new, required course in personal finance but is open to all who touch on this subject, whether in social studies, business, or family and consumer science classes. Teams of four high school students each will compete online to qualify for their regional competition. Each team needs a teacher sponsor.

Regional Competitions

When: The online qualifier for the regional competitions will be held March 7-18, 2011. The following regional competitions will be held:

St. Louis on April 12, 2011, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Springfield on April 14, 2011, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Columbia on April 13, 2011, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Kansas City on April 8, 2011, 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

State Competition

When: The state competition will be held in Jefferson City on April 29, 2011, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

National Competition

When: The national competition will be held in St. Louis on May 16, 2011,
9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Prizes: Regional competition participants will receive T-shirts. All members of the top two teams from each regional competition and their teacher will receive savings bonds and a school trophy. Members of the top two teams for the state competition and their teacher will receive additional savings bonds and a school trophy.

Sponsors: The Missouri Council on Economic Education, the Centers for Economic Education across the state (see below) and Wachovia Securities, with support from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Rules and Registration: Go to http://cas.umkc.edu/mcee for information.

For more information, contact the Center for Economic Education nearest you:
UM-KansasCity Gayle Voyles 816-235-2524 voylesg@umkc.edu UM-St. Louis Sharon Laux 314-516-5249 lauxs@umsl.edu	University of Central Missouri Penny Kugler 660-543-8570 kugler@cmsu1.cmsu.edu Southwest Missouri Area Mark Gravenstein 816-235-2653 gravensteinm@umkc.edu Operation Outreach Patty Palmer 660-646-5229 outpalmr@greenhills.net

Tennessee Personal Finance Challenge

The Tennessee Personal Finance Challenge is designed to promote financial literacy in high school students through an exciting competition with their peers across the state.

To participate, teachers should register and begin creating teams. Teams of four high school students each will compete in a multiple-choice online qualifier to determine who progresses to the state competition. The top eight teams from across the state will compete in a quiz bowl on personal finance to take home the state championship trophy. The championship will be held April 26, 2012, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta-Nashville Branch.

February 1, 2012 - Teacher Registration Begins - Come to www.financechallenge.org and register.
March 15 - April 5, 2012 - Online Competition - Teams login and face the Challenge!
April 26, 2012 - State Finals in Nashville, Tn. - When we find the Best of the Best.
Again in 2012! May 14, 2012 - National Finals in Kansas City, Mo. Expense-paid trip to the Tennessee winner to compete with other state-winning teams.

For more information and to register a team, go to www.financechallenge.org.

For more information, please contact Jeannette Bennett.