RFH Euro Challenge Team Wins 3rd Place in the Nation

The (RFH) Euro Challenge Team competed in the nation-wide Euro Challenge competition and advanced to the national finals where they took the third place honors.

The Euro Challenge was created by the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States in 2006. The purpose of the competition is to “foster a better understanding of the strong economic and political relationship between the United States and Europe and support local learning objectives in the field of economics and finance.”

Throughout the school year, the European Commisson has been sponsoring seminars on the European Union and the euro so that participating schools could learn more about the European economy. Each team selected a European country from those which have adopted the euro as currency and prepared a presentation in which they discussed the current economic situation.

The different teams selected one economically related challenge confronting all of Europe and how the selected country illustrated that challenge. The team was directed to recommend a policy or policies to address the issue in the chosen country. A requirement was inclusion of the effect of having a single currency and how it may or may not affect the policy choices for addressing the challenge. Their 15 minute presentations were followed by 10 minutes of questioning by a panel of experts in European economic affairs or educators who served as judges.

This year’s RFH Euro Challenge team consisted of Nicki Liang, Anna Marchese, Gabrielle Minassian, Kristen Pellizzi and Shawhin Sarraf. The competition took place at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with high school teams from across the United States taking part. Monetary prizes were donated by the Moody’s Foundation, and the team won a prize of $3,750 for their efforts.

RFH Economics Instructor and Euro Challenge Team Coach, Mr. Joseph J. Lanza, was exuberant about reaching the finals and their 3rd Place finish. He said, “Our students represented the entire Rumson and Fair Haven communities in the finest tradition of RFH. Above anything else, the most rewarding feeling is when other team advisors and, especially, representatives from the European Delegation and the WISE (Working In the Support of Education) organization comment on how well mannered and respectful our students act and interact with others."

Lanza added that team work and a good attitude attributed to their success. "They were a very cohesive team, highly self-motivated and directed, friendly towards each other and lived up to our school motto that success is in direct proportion to one's commitment to excellence," he said. "The team and I would like to thank Patti McMackin for her help in preparing the students for the public speaking aspect of the event. This was amazing, awesome!”