If the Madoff scam, housing market crash and subsequent Wall Street Meltdown have proven anything, it is that most U.S. adults don't know how to handle their finances. However, a recent competition held at UB showed promise for the nation's future investors.
Approximately 90 students from 19 local high schools gathered in the Center for the Arts on March 12 to participate in "MoneySKILL Mania," a School of Management (SoM) sponsored competition where students demonstrate their financial literacy skills.
The competition is based around the MoneySKILL program, which was created by Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and managerial economics in the SoM.
"The purpose of MoneySKILL Mania is to make sure people know about this wonderful program and to reward classes using the program in a fun way," said Cynthia Shore, the SoM assistant dean for corporate and community relations.
Shore hopes that this program will expand its reach and help more people over time, especially during this time of current economic upheaval.
"What's important is part of the larger objective of improving the financial skills of young people," Shore said. "I hope the progress continues and more teachers begin to use the program."
According to Shore, the program offers updates to ensure MoneySKILL is up to date with the current standards, which is not offered in normal high school curriculums.
"M&T gave $100,000 over four years to fund programs like this and to fund training and ads," Shore said. "This program really is a gift."
According to Shore, 132 teachers now use the program, which continues to get more and more popular in high schools, as only 13 were using it a year ago.
The annual competition, which is in its second year, included five rounds consisting of 8 to 13 questions. The schools were awarded points based on how fast their players chose the correct answers.
Sacred Heart Academy was victorious in the competition for the second consecutive year with Clarence High School coming in second and Erie 1 BOCES Legal Academy placing third.
Mary Stottele, Kelly Mroz and Christina Douglas of Sacred Heart Academy each received a $250 award towards college. Mitchell Wlodarczyk of Clarence High School received a Toshiba notebook computer for having the highest overall score.
Sacred Heart Academy's win is even more impressive considering a brief mix up made before the competition.
"This was the second year we won and my students felt a little pressure but more because I thought the competition was the 19th and not a week before," said Kenneth McKinnon, Social Studies Department Chair at Sacred Heart Academy and team coach. "I got an email reminding me that it was in two days while at my part time job and went into panic mode."
McKinnon sent a mass e-mail out to every senior at Sacred Heart offering extra credit to the first student who could put the five students he needed in touch with him. He heard back quickly and was thus able to get the ball rolling.
"The three students, who won, had not even begun working on MoneySKILL, which is 34 modules of personal finance, each taking about 20 to 35 minutes," McKinnon said.
Even with the last-minute preparation, McKinnion still managed to monitor the students' progress closely.
"[The students] moved steady but sure, and most of them had between a 98 and a 100 on the posttest," McKinnon said. "I keep telling people that the best students I get to teach, I have right now. They're really amazing."
Although McKinnon plans to make sure his team is prepared ahead of time for next year's competition, his coaching abilities have proven successful even with the loss of time.
"Jessica Yox, who won individual honors last year, is an Honors Scholar at UB this year," McKinnon said. "Also she didn't complete MoneySKILL until that morning."
