Students from Mount Saint Mary Academy (NJ) Win 2023 Euro Challenge
Delegation of the European Union to the United States
Press Contact:
Stefan.Cornibert@eeas.europa.eu
April 25, 2023
Students from Mount Saint Mary Academy (NJ) Win 2023 Euro Challenge
Five High School Teams Receive Awards for Their Euro Knowledge
Students from Mount Saint Mary Academy in New Jersey, won the final round of this year's Euro Challenge competition – an academic contest for high school students to showcase their knowledge of economics and policy-making from a European Union perspective. They led five winning teams, including Mt. Hebron High School in Maryland (2nd place), School of Business and Management in Texas (3rd place), Wethersfield High School in Connecticut (4th place), and York Community High School in Illinois (5th place).
“The Euro Challenge is a flagship priority for the EU Delegation in the United States,” said Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, Stavros Lambrinidis. “It promotes deeper understanding in the next generation of young policymakers on how the world’s two biggest open economies function and intersect. And it is thus indispensable for fortifying transatlantic ties during especially turbulent times.”
Having announced the finalists, Ambassador Lambrinidis congratulated the five best teams and all Euro Challenge participants for their remarkable performances. Students showed great enthusiasm and presented creative policy recommendations on complex challenges the European Union faces as it dramatically reduces its energy dependence on Russia, accelerates the transition to renewable energy sources, and strengthens transatlantic supply chains, to the benefit of the European, the transatlantic, and the global economy. “The intellectual commitment of the young students in today’s competition makes me optimistic for the future of transatlantic relations,” concluded Lambrinidis.
Organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, this year's contest marked the 17th edition of the Euro Challenge, an annual competition that provides high school students nationwide an exciting opportunity to learn about the global economy, EU-U.S. relations, policy-making in the EU and the EU’s single currency, the Euro. Participating teams step into the role of policymakers to consider innovative solutions to shared problems with the goal of building better and more equitable societies. In their presentations to expert panels, students also focused on broader challenges, including Europe’s green energy transition, the economic impact of Russia’s war on the Euro area, the post-pandemic recovery, and measures to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the crisis. Following regional contests, 25 teams from across the country travelled to New York City to participate in the semi-finals hosted at PineBridge Investments and the final round on April 24. The expert panel of judges comprised Ben Carliner, Senior Economist at the Delegation of the European Union to the U.S., Bruce Kasman, Chief Economist and Head of Global Economic Research at JP Morgan Chase & Co, and Jennifer Olmsted, Professor of Economics at Drew University, New Jersey. This year’s Euro Challenge also benefitted from the presence of a special guest speaker: Moreno Bertoldi, who founded the Euro Challenge and hosted its very first edition back in 2006.
The Euro Challenge promotes economic literacy, introduces students to the European Union and underscores the importance of transatlantic ties. Since its inception, thousands of U.S. students have benefited from participating in the event. This year’s 77 teams collectively represented high schools from 21 States (Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin). The five winning teams receive monetary awards generously provided by Moody's Foundation. The first and second placed teams will also enjoy a trip to Washington, DC, to present their recommendations to the embassy of the country they researched.
The Euro Challenge is a program launched and supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, and is managed on the Delegation's behalf by W!se (Working in Support of Education). The monetary awards are funded through a grant from Moody’s Foundation. Partners are BNP Paribas, Florida International University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Illinois, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Washington, the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, the World Affairs Council of Seattle, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Miami Branch).
For photos of the competition, please see: @EUintheUS @eurochallenge_ #EuroChallenge
For further information on the competition, please visit: www.euro-challenge.org
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Delegation of the European Union to the United States
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