Personal Finance Challenge 2009

Illinois Personal Finance Challenge

Personal Finance Challenge
2009 Results

Illinois Results

State Championship

LaSalle Peru HS team strategizes with their coach

On April 21, 72 high school students from eleven Illinois schools competed in the First Annual Personal Finance Challenge State Championship. The Illinois competition was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and consisted of individual and team tests, ending with a final buzzer round. During a morning break, teams participated in a guided tour of the Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum.

In the online preliminary testing, sixteen schools competed for the invitation to the Personal Finance Challenge State Championship. 114 teams tested online - 440 students! Twenty teams are invited to compete for State Champion. Teams consisted of four students each, unless one student could not attend - and then the three remaining students tested.

Winners in Personal Finance Challenge receive medals, U.S. savings bonds and a trophy to display at their school. Every school advancing to the State Championship receives a plaque to signify their having been selected as a State Finalist. All teachers and students participating in the event receive 2009 Personal Finance T-shirts and certificates of participation.

  • First Place, Champion: West Chicago Community High School, West Chicago. Donald Zabelin, teacher. Team members: Diana M, Steve R, Stuart S and Sam W.
  • Second Place, Reserve Champion: Waubonsie Valley High School, Angie Hysjulien, teacher. Team members: Robert B, Jeff C, Andrew H and Avni K.

Schools competing at the State Championship, 2009

  • Downers Grove South High School, Downers Grove
  • LaSalle Peru Township High School, LaSalle
  • Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville
  • Quincy Area Voc. Tech Center, Quincy
  • ROE Alternative Program, Zion
  • Scales Mound High School, Scales Mound
  • Simeon Career Academy, Chicago
  • Theodore Roosevelt High School, Chicago
  • Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora
  • West Chicago Community High School, West Chicago
  • Whitney M. Young High School, Chicago

Illinois Personal Finance Challenge is a program of Econ Illinois, with support from the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and St. Louis, and through funding from Bank of America.