Media Advisory: Pennsylvania High School Students Take on Euro Challenge

Business Wire,  March 28, 2008  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

WASHINGTON -- American shopkeepers hanging up signs saying "We Accept Euros." The rapper Jay-Z displaying a wad of 500-euro notes in his latest music video. The euro, which will soon celebrate its tenth birthday, has been getting its share of attention recently as its value has risen against the dollar. Students from North Allegheny Intermediate High School and South Side High School will get a chance to go beyond the headline as they compete in this year's Euro Challenge competition by answering questions about the European economy and the euro which is now shared by 15 of the 27 countries of the EU. Competition will take place on Tuesday, April 1 (via videoconference), and winning teams have a shot at going to New York City for the final rounds to compete against teams from other states.

A total of 47 teams from seven U.S. states (Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania) will compete for cash awards. Regional competitions will lead to the final rounds at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on April 29.

The Euro Challenge was launched by the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States in 2006 with 10 schools participating from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It aims 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. The cash awards are made available by The Moody's Foundation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides technical assistance to the Euro Challenge, while Working in Support of Education (W!SE) is serving as project manager. Other partner organizations include Credit Suisse and EuroNet International BRG from Deloitte & Touche USA, LLP.

"The Euro Challenge is a tremendous event," said EU Ambassador John Bruton. "The young people that compete learn a great deal about the euro and the EU, but end up appreciating more deeply why the relationship between Europe and America is the strongest in the world. I welcome the fact that more schools are taking advantage of this unique opportunity."

Throughout this school year, teachers and students have been attending seminars on the European Union and the euro provided by speakers from the European Commission, as well as partner organizations. Participants have been diligently researching the EU's dynamic economy and each team has selected to focus on one of the euro area countries.

The preliminary round of the 2008 Euro Challenge competition will be held on April 18, 2008, at Credit Suisse for the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut teams. Preliminary rounds will be held on April 8 for the Florida teams and on April 1 and 4 for the Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina teams. The top four teams from Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina will travel to New York City to compete in the semi-final and final rounds of the competition, which will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on April 29. Those four teams will be joined by twelve of the qualifying teams from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

In addition to the generous cash awards, the Moody's Foundation will also sponsor a one-day trip to Washington DC for the top two teams to visit the Delegation of the European Commission, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and the International Monetary Fund.

For further information and an overview of the participating schools, please visit: www.euro-challenge.org

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning