On Thursday, April 11, 2019, Midlo Economics and Personal Finance students competed in the statewide Economics Regional Governor’s Challenge. This annual event is a competition for the highest scoring students to compete in groups of 12 per division, with each group representing their school. These highly qualified students participated in a rigorous, statewide qualifying test with 30 questions to be completed in 30 minutes. Midlo students competed in the following categories: Personal Finance: Abi Allums, Amelia Bryans, James Flores, and Jack Goddard; the Adam Smith Economics: Paul Miller, Tad Kozusko, Andrew Pilcher, and Vic Lin; and the David Ricardo Economics: Jack Maloy, Andrew Butterworth, Ethan Saulsbury, and Dominik Flisiak. 

From 9:30 to 2:30, students from across the state converged at Capital One Headquarters. “Once we arrived,” Flores commented, “We had to immediately start our presentation.” The Personal Finance group’s competition consisted of a five minute competition with the students posing as financial advisers for a family. Two months prior, the judges handed the Personal Finance students a case study, with information on the family’s salary, 401K, health insurance, and more. The judges, acting as the family, critiqued their financial advice. Judges chose the winning and second place schools in the state level to present in front of the whole program. The Midlo students placed first in the region and fourth in the state in this division.

Afterwards, a Capital One financial adviser presented on the importance of finance to the students who completed their competition. Meanwhile, the David Ricardo Honors Economics participants commenced their competition. Unlike the Personal Finance group, the honors students took three tests: a macroeconomics, a microeconomics, and the final on international trade with the international trade test allowing the four team members to confer before giving their answer. The top two schools that scored the highest continued as finalists in a Quiz Bowl, a Battle of the Brains-style questionnaire, with the two schools competing head-to-head for the championship title. Once again, Midlo’s David Ricardo group earned third place in the state.

After eating a sponsor-provided lunch, the AP students in the Adam Smith Economics began their tests, the same format as the David Ricardo group, followed by a Quiz Bowl for the top two teams. Lin recalled the Quiz Bowl experience: “Even though we didn’t make it [to the Quiz Bowl], it was still one of my favorite things to watch. It was exciting.” The AP Adam Smith students achieved regional status.

At the end of the day, the judges handed out awards to the top schools in the closing ceremony. Midlothian’s Personal Finance earned a nice award due to their regional stance. “I felt good about the work we did. I was proud of what we accomplished,” Allums said. Many students enjoyed their experience there, such as Bryans, who plans to take AP Economics next year, in hopes to participate in this educational field trip again. VCU businessmen, as well as the Virginia Secretary of Education and Capital One, made closing speeches in regards to the annual competition. At the end of the day, the Midlothian students felt proud of their hard work and energized to learn more about business and personal finance.