Dr. Koh Noi Keng, Chair of the Citi-National Institute of Education Financial Literacy Hub for Teachers in Singapore and party actively promoting financial literacy in the region, welcomed the collaboration and noted that the assessment will be a useful tool for parents, teachers and students.

"We are proud to be part of this innovative and groundbreaking initiative in the field of financial education and look forward to working with MoneyTree on other such initiatives," said Dr. Carlos Asarta, Director of the University of Delaware CEEE.

Michael Reyes, MoneyTree's CEO, also noted that the pairing with CEEE would not have been possible without strong support from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore. Professors Carlos Asarta and James O'Neill had a chance to meet with representatives from IE Singapore and MoneyTree back in November when they visited Singapore to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Students from Charter School of Wilmington, Padua Academy and Smyrna High School were among 10,500 participants from across the United States who competed in the 15th annual National Economics Challenge (NEC) after winning the Delaware competition hosted by the CEEE. The NEC tests high school students' knowledge of economics as they work individually and in teams answering rigorous questions on microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics and current events. The event offers two levels of competition: the Adam Smith division for students enrolled in Honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate economics classes and the David Ricardo division for students enrolled in college preparatory or general level classes.

Two teams from Charter advanced to the national semi-finals: the David Ricardo team placed fourth and was one of four teams winning an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to compete in the national finals on May 16-18; the Adam Smith team placed eighth out of 31 national semi-finalists.

Since 2001, the Delaware Bankers Association (DBA) has funded scholarships awarded annually to two students who are enrolled in Keys to Financial Success and who win the DBA essay competition that focuses on money management skills.    

Diandra Coleman from Caesar Rodney High School and Natalie O'Connor from Cab Calloway School of the Arts were each awarded $2,500 for their prize-winning essays.

Don't forget to encourage your students who participate in Keys to Financial Success to enter next year's DBA essay contest.

Dr. Andrew Hill, Economic Education Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, addressed topics such as the monetary system, monetary policy and money creation as he demonstrated lessons from the new High School Economics curriculum from the Council for Economic Education.

Professor James Butkiewicz, Chair of the Economics Department at the University of Delaware, explored the trends that underlie economic growth and introduced a related lesson from the High School Economics curriculum.

Participating teachers expressed their eagerness to implement the simulations and activities presented at the Topical Seminars.

Tune in for next year's Topical Seminars!