NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (March 30, 2017) — Eight students from the New Rochelle High School Economics Team have advanced to the semifinals of the National Economic Challenge, the nation’s most prestigious high school economics competition.
The contest will take place Saturday, April 1, at the Museum of Finance in New York City. The students were picked from among hundreds in New York state who took an online test in economics. Eight teams were selected to go to the semifinals. Two of the teams are from NRHS.
On Saturday, the competitors will answer 15 multiple choice questions in macroeconomics, 15 in microeconomics and another 15 in international trade and current business affairs. The top two teams in the morning contest will face off against each other in the afternoon in a quiz bowl format. The winner will go on to the national contest.
The NRHS Economics Team has been competing in the National Economics Challenge for the last 10 years. In 2014, the team took second place in the semifinals.
Darren Gurney, an economics teacher at NRHS and the team coach, said team members had been staying after school a couple of times a week for months to prepare for the competition. They had to work extra hard because NRHS offered economics only in senior year, unlike some of their competitors who had been studying economics since ninth grade.
“This team is as passionate and dedicated as any team I’ve been around, whether in economics or sports,” said Gurney, who has been coaching sports teams for 25 years. “Win or lose, these students have learned a great deal in the last six months about economics and about relying on each other.”
State winners will advance to the national semifinals. From there, the top four highest scoring teams will be selected to attend the National Finals in May in New York City for a three-day all-expenses-paid trip and celebration to compete for top awards and honors. In total, more than $20,000 in prizes will be awarded at the National Economics Challenge in 2017.
About the City School District of New Rochelle
With nearly 11,000 students in 10 schools, the City School District of New Rochelle, through an active partnership amongst community, parents, staff and students, provides a high-quality and challenging education for every child, in a safe, nurturing environment that embraces rich diversity and drives success.
