Illinois Economic Challenge State Championship

Buffalo Grove High School earned First Place in the Illinois Economics Challenge State Finals, a program provided by Econ Illinois! The event, held April 13 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, involved 40 high school students competing for the Championship title.

Buffalo Grove outscored York Community High School during the final "Quiz Bowl" round of competition. The First Place team, coached by teacher Pete Duffer received a trophy and framed certificate for their school, individual medals and certificates, as well as cash awards. The event consisted of individual and team written tests and the final quiz bowl round of competition. This year student teams were also involved with a Critical Thinking activity that addressed a behavioral economics case study prompt. Students were required to advise a business volunteer on how to modify university policy and/or address student incentives, to increase demand for vaccines at a fictitious college. 

The Buffalo Grove team advanced to the National Semi-finals round of competition held April 19, online. Each First Place state team participates in the National Semi-finals, with the eight highest scoring teams going on to compete in the National Economics Challenge Finals. Buffalo Grove scored competitively in the Semi-finals, but did not advance to National Finals in New York City held May 19-21, 2018.

The York Community High School team pulled ahead of eight competing student teams to earn Second Place in the final round of the State Finals competition. The York team, represented by teacher Tamra Carl, received a trophy and framed certificate for their school, individual medals and certificates, as well as cash awards.

Illinois participants in Economics Challenge 2018

Teams from the following schools competed online in the 2018 Economics Challenge. All schools participating statewide received a certificate of recognition. *Schools marked with an asterisk and bolded advanced to the state finals and each received state finalist certificates as well as a framed state finalist certificate, listing all participants, for the school.

• *James Kollar                Adlai E Stevenson High School
• Neal Ridenour                  Barrington High School
• *Peter Duffer                 Buffalo Grove High School
• Adam Koester                  Edwardsville High School
• Matthew Bohnenkamp      Elk Grove High School
• Denise Franta                  Grayslake North High School
• *Jeff Waterman             Hinsdale South High School
• Carl Coates                      Homewood-Flossmoor High School
• Nick Anello                       Homewood-Flossmoor High School
• Brad Christoff                   Hononegah High School
• Brian Kemp                      John Hersey High School
• *Julie Bryar-Smith         Lyons Township High School
• Brian Smith                     Metea Valley High School
• C David Ashton                Naperville Central High School
• Chris Cebrzynski              Neuqua Valley High School
• Amanda Dunham             Neuqua Valley High School
• *James Owens              Saint Ignatius College Prep
• Alison Upton-Dunmore     South Elgin High School
• Brian Eslick                     Willowbrook High School
• *Tamra Carl                   York Comm High School

The 2018 The Illinois Economics Challenge is a program of Econ Illinois brought to you through support from our partners and donors, with special recognition to Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs for his endorsement and generous support.