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Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills
The Alabama state champions in the National Personal Finance Challenge were Vestavia Hills High Schoool seniors Andrew Sheng, Ben Cusmariu, Anjie Deng and Ethan Melenevsky.
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Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills
The second-place team in the Alabama state tournament for the National Personal Finance Challenge was comprised of Jeffrey Zhao, Aditya Sheelavant, Justin Zou and Eric Wang.
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Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills
Jeffrey Zhao, center, was the top individual scorer in the Alabama state tournament for the National Personal Finance Challenge.
Two teams from Vestavia Hills High School on Wednesday placed first and second in the state competition for the National Personal Finance Challenge.
The competition was hosted by the Alabama Council on Economic Education at the University of Alabama.
The championship team was made up of Vestavia Hills High School seniors Andrew Sheng, Ben Cusmariu, Anjie Deng and Ethan Melenevsky. The second-place team was comprised of Jeffrey Zhao, Aditya Sheelavant, Justin Zou and Eric Wang. Zhao also was named the competition’s top individual scorer.
There were 831 students and 217 teams from across the state that competed in an online test to qualify for the state tournament, said Wanda McAbee, executive director for the Alabama Council on Economic Education. The top 23 teams were invited to the state championship tournament in Tuscaloosa, although there was a limit of three teams per school. Those teams took a multiple-choice test, and the top two teams competed in the finals in a quiz bowl format.
Each member of the first-place team and coach Steve Johnson won $150, and each member of the second-place team and Johnson won $50. The first-place team will compete in a national competition in Atlanta on June 1-2. In the national competition, teams use their knowledge to create a financial plan for fictitious family scenario. The top 16 teams nationally then advance to the national finals.
Two years ago, Vestavia Hills had a team place second in the nation, McAbee said.
"He [Johnson] has a very strong program there," McAbee said. "We really appreciate his commitment to financial literacy in Vestavia Hills."
Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:34 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, to correct the dates of the state and national tournaments and to add more information about the state tournament.
