HCPSS Team Wins State Competition for Personal Finance

April 16th, 2013

The Academy of Finance (AOF) team from the Applications and Research Laboratory (ARL), the centralized academy facility for Howard County Public School System, on April 11 won first place in the Maryland Council on Economic Education Personal Finance Challenge State Competition. Each team member was awarded $500 and an all expense paid trip to the national competition to be held May 2 in St Louis.

The AOF team competed with 27 teams from across the state in a three-round competition. The two teams with the highest scores then competed for the state title in a fast-paced “Quiz Bowl” round.

The AOF team included Taylor Bruner, Dominique Eaton, Corey Johnson, and Edward Lee. All are members of the school’s Millionaire Club, sponsored by the State Employee Credit Union. The team was supported by their mentor, local financial planner John Hauserman, CFP, and Instructor Maddy Halbach, PhD.

In preparation for this competition, students met with Hauserman once a week for two months. They also took a pre/post test to pinpoint areas in need of improvement and created personal finance stories with the goal of incorporating as many finance words as possible.

The HCPSS Applications and Research Laboratory provides rigorous content-specific instruction and real world experiences, and provides career education for students that develop academic, professional and technical skills. The ARL is dedicated to preparing students to be college and career ready while promoting lifelong learning, mastery of specific essential skills, and development of highly qualified professionals. Academies include Allied Health, Architectural Design, Automotive Technology, Biotechnology, Certified Nursing Assistant, Construction Management, Cybersecurity Networking, Emergency Medical Technicians, Academy of Finance, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Systems and Project Engineering, and Visual Communications.

Sponsors supporting this team and the competition included: State Employee Credit Union (SECU), Retirement Quest, Consumer Credit Counseling of Maryland and Delaware, Credit Union Foundation of MD & DC, Wells Fargo, and Maryland Council on Economic Education.