Sachem North’s EuroChallenge team, ranked in the national top 25, has advanced to the tournament final held at the Federal Reserve on April 30.
Sachem’s quad is comprised of five sophomores including Jared Nasso, Carissa Stump, Marissa Volkman, Claire Ramirez and Isabel Martins.
The EuroChallenge is a competition for high school underclassman, which tests their knowledge and understanding of the European economy and the euro, the currency shared by many of the 28 countries of the European Union (EU).
The program was launched by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States in partnership with The Moody’s Foundation and with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York serving as program advisor.
For the 2015 EuroChallenge competition, student teams were asked to make 15-minute presentations in which they are required to describe the current economic situation in the euro area, select one economic-related challenge confronting the euro area as a whole, and pick one of the 18 member countries of the euro area to illustrate that challenge.
Sachem North’s team had the daunting task of solving Spain’s high unemployment problem and first presented their solutions in a mock competition at BNP Paribus in Manhattan on March 13 and at the official competition on March 25 at Credit Suisse in front of panels of judges featuring economists, analysts and bankers.
Sachem’s EuroChallenge team has met weekly, some weeks even daily, as a club since October in preparation for the tournament. Members of last year’s returning team, Jason Rocha, Jose Morel, and Sudip Paul were integral in helping to prepare this year’s team.
Members of the elite EuroChallenge Club are developing high level and critical life skills such as how to work in an academic team setting, how to analyze and problem-solve on macro and micro levels, how to break down higher level topics using thorough research and analysis, how to public speak and present, and how to evaluate and foresee possible outcomes.
In 2014, the top five winning teams from the tournament received monetary awards generously provided by The Moody’s Foundation. The awards were $1,250 for each member of the first-place team, $1,000 each for second place, $750 each for third place, $500 each for fourth place, and $250 each for fifth place. The Moody’s Foundation also sponsored a trip to Washington, D.C. for the two top teams of 2014.