Fed, Econ Challenge Teams Prevail, Proceed to Contests’ Next Stages
By Jesse Reisner ‘08
News Staff Reporter
On Monday, April 3rd, The Choate Economics team, led by Mr. Ted Hartsoe, participated in the statewide Economics Challenge in Stamford, Connecticut. On Wednesday the 5th, a separate team took part in the Federal Reserve Bank challenge in Boston. Choate met with success in both competitions, advancing to the next round of contests.
Mr. Hartsoe, an economics teacher here at Choate, led the team of four students in an interscholastic competition in economic knowledge. The competition, hosted by the National Council on Economic Education, was composed of three multiple-choice tests on Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and international economics.
After the testing, the top two teams were selected to compete in a “quiz bowl,” in which a moderator asked a series of questions to the team; a team member then hit a buzzer and answered the question. The Choate team accumulated the most points during this round and qualified for the next competition.
On Wednesday, a different team of five students took part in the Fed Challenge, where they delivered a fifteen-minute oral presentation on current economic conditions and important economic issues. “The Fed Challenge is actually more stressful, because you don’t know what the judges are going to ask, and you’ve got to be able to think on your feet,” said Mr. Hartsoe.
Choate was able to win the Fed Challenge and will advance to the New England Competition in Boston. Every since 1997, with one exception, Choate has won the New England District Fed competition at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. The winner of the regional competition proceeds to the National Competition in Washington, D.C.
Before 2001, the Economics Challenge was held in Minneapolis, welcoming local teams, but in 2001, the National Council extended the competition across the country. Choate has represented Connecticut in the national competition every year since 2001 except for last year. It won the first National Challenge in 2001.
Mr. Hartsoe shared his opinions on Choate’s economics program. “Choate students should take economics because it’s a valuable course. You need to have some background in economics to be an educated citizen, to be able to participate in the economy as a worker, as a saver, and as a consumer,” he stated.
One of the enthusiastic and motivated students who competed in the Econ Challenge was Omid NasserBigdeli ’08. “Coming from a school such as Choate Rosemary Hall, I knew that we were going to be well-prepared for the competition,” he declared.
“Our economics program is very strong...I came into this competition feeling very comfortable and confident that we were going to go somewhere far,” continued NasserBigdeli.
The success the teams achieved at the two competitions did not come without practice and preparation. “We had practice sessions on weeknights before going to the Econ Challenge, so we were prepared for the contest,” explained NasserBigdeli.
There is no doubt that economics is a vital asset to the strong curriculum at Choate, as it is becoming an extremely popular class to take. “To help a society maintain its economic prosperity, we need wise money managers and wise spenders,” said NasserBigdeli.
Choate’s team will be competing on April 24th in Philadelphia for the Eastern Regional Economics Competition. If they win that contest, they will advance to the National Challenge in New York City in May.
