Arkansas Gov. Beebe Honors National Fed Challenge Team with Reception

Left to right: Charles Meyers, Shariq Ali, Billy Britt, Nancy Rousseau (Central Principal), George West (Central Teacher), Stuart Shirrell, Brent Sodman, Hilary Ledwel, Robert Hopkins

Gov. and Mrs. Mike Beebe hosted a reception for the 2007 National Fed Challenge Team at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, Ark., on Aug. 14, 2007. Co-hosting the reception was Onebank & Trust N.A. and Retirement Advisors of Arkansas. Around 50 friends, family, civic leaders and Little Rock School Board members attended the reception in the students’ honor.

“As soon as Mrs. Beebe learned about Central High School’s team winning this national competition, she wanted to honor them with this reception,” said Gov. Beebe in his welcoming comments.

Central High's principal, Nancy Rousseau, said of the team’s winning, “As you know, scholastically and athletically, Central High has won numerous awards; however, this is the biggest honor Central has ever won. At a recent breakfast held at the Little Rock branch, we learned that Central was the first urban school to win this national competition. We appreciate the help and encouragement given to us by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Little Rock Branch.”

George West, teacher and coach of the team, introduced the team with a special memory about each team member. He also thanked the Fed for sponsoring the Fed Challenge competition. Members of the Little Rock School Board expressed their appreciation of this type of competition for students in Little Rock.

Little Rock Senior Branch Executive, Robert Hopkins, echoed the accolades given to the students. “This is a great group of students who worked hard for this honor. On behalf of my Federal Reserve colleagues across the Eighth district, know that we take great pride in the team’s accomplishment and wish you well in your future studies.”

Team members Hilary Ledwel, Brent Sodman, Charles Meyers and Cameron Zohoori are all considering being a part of the 2008 Fed Challenge team. Ledwel has been chosen as team captain replacing Stuart Sherrill, who promises to be a cheerleader for the new team. Ledwel is thinking ahead for the team—she is already asking about the judges for the zone competition.

The Fed Challenge is a 30-minute performance-based competition conducted at participating Federal Reserve banks and branches. Each performance consists of two parts: a 15-minute presentation before a panel of judges in a mock Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) forum, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. High school teams gather research to make the presentation, which includes:

• an analysis of economic and financial conditions (on the day of the presentation);
  
• a forecast of economic, financial and international conditions that are of critical importance in developing monetary policy for the near term;
  
• identification of pressing economic, financial and international issues that should be of special concern for monetary policy-makers; and
  
• a recommendation to increase, decrease or leave unchanged the level of short-term interest rates.
  

Following the presentation, a panel of judges—typically made up of Federal Reserve staff members, financial professionals and educators—question the team about its analysis, forecast, recommendation and the Federal Reserve's role in developing and implementing monetary policy. Judges score teams based on five criteria:

• knowledge of the Federal Reserve's role in developing and implementing monetary policy,
  
• responses to the judges' questions,
  
• quality of the presentation,
  
• quality of the research and analysis, and
  
• evidence of teamwork and cooperation.

The Little Rock team was up against six other schools in the national Fed Challenge competition: St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend, Ind.; Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn.; West Windsor High School in Plainsborough, NJ; Severn School in Severna Park, Md.; International Baccalaureate High School in Upper Arlington, Ohio; and Millard North High School in Omaha, Neb.