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Accepting the Challenge
Christy Walker
Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge
always pays the best interest.” At Germantown High School, a
few students have truly taken that quote to heart, winning both
economics and personal finance state competitions for not
just this past school year but for the past three years straight!
What started as an introduction to basic economic and
personal finance principles under former GMS teacher
Deborah Morali has grown to a consistent investment in
themselves. Team member Shreenithi Lakshminarayanan said
each time she competes, she gets to practice new applications
in practical scenarios and learns about the importance of
diversifying and understanding the foundational principles in
economics and finance that will teach her skills that will be
heavily utilized in her future.
Each year, the Mississippi Council on Economics Education
conducts the Economics Challenge and Personal Finance
Challenge state competitions for middle and high schoolers
from across the state. The winners earn college scholarships
with the high school teams advancing to the national competition.
GHS team member Cooper Word believes competing
in the economics and personal finance challenges taught him
to understand both his own and the world’s dealings with
money.
Each year, with more practice and more instruction under
GHS teachers Christy Walker and Cindy McMullen, this
group continues to be competitive at the national level in both
economics and personal finance. And as the saying goes, hard
work pays off. This past year, they placed fourth in the national
personal finance competition, a feat that is incredibly hard to
attain. Three of the four team members will be seniors this
year which leaves one more year to compete and one more
year to strive for that national title. However, as Henry David
Thoreau once said, “What you get by achieving your goals is
not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
Although the national title would be great, what these
team members have learned along the way will be much
more valuable. For more information on the state challenges,
contact Mississippi Council on Economic Education at
Mscee@millsaps.edu or 601-974-1325.
Hometown MADISON • 67