For release: March 10, 2003

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Central High Team Wins Little Rock Area "Fed Challenge"

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—A team of six students from Central High School won first place in the Little Rock area "Fed Challenge," an economics competition sponsored by the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Second place went to a team from Catholic High School for Boys.

Each team made a 15-minute presentation, based on their research of economic conditions and reflecting their recommended course of action for monetary policy. These presentations were made before a panel of judges in a mock Federal Open Market Committee format. The teams then answered questions based on their presentations and research.

The students from Central High School are Chris Burks, Daniel Liu, Kevin Luneau, Jessica Marshall, David Mitchell and Shep Russell. Their teacher is Sam Stueart. They will compete in the District competition in St. Louis on April 2 against the winning teams from Louisville, Memphis and St. Louis. The winner of that round will then represent the Eighth District at the Federal Reserve System's national competition April 26-28 in Washington, D.C.

The students from Catholic High are Andrew Blair, Daniel McFadden, David Perez, Will Puddephatt, Matt Street and Jonathan Woods. Their teacher is Cody McDaniel.

The judges for the Little Rock competition were Dr. Ashvin Vibhakar, director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Institute for Economic Advancement; Dr. Erick Elder, assistant professor of economics and finance at UALR; Susie Smith, chief financial officer for Metropolitan National Bank; and Kevin L. Kliesen, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the Federal Reserve System. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates U.S. monetary policy, regulates state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies, and provides payment services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.

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