For release: March 10, 2003

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Ballard High School Team Wins First Place in Louisville Area "Fed Challenge"

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ¾ A team of five students from Ballard High School earned first place in the Louisville area "Fed Challenge," an economics competition sponsored by the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. A team from Mt. Vernon, Ind., captured second place.

The five Ballard High students are Taylor Brown, Robbie Eberenz, Paria Majd, Daniel Solzman and James Williamson. Their teacher for the competition is Mark Catlett and their coach is Louis Straub, vice president for Bank One.

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 judges for the Louisville competition were William R. Emmons, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; Orson Oliver, a consultant to BB&T in Louisville; and Paul A. Coomes, professor of economics and National City research fellow at the University of Louisville's College of Business and Public Administration.

On April 2, the Ballard High team will compete in the District competition in St. Louis against the winning teams from Little Rock, 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.

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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