Editor's note: This story has been updated to include results from the national competition. The original story begins with the fourth paragraph.
A team from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts placed third in the 2023 National Personal Finance Challenge.
ASMSA seniors Beatrice Nknuga of Sherwood and Ai’Yanna Tombs of North Little Rock teamed with junior Daniel Nkunga of Sherwood represented ASMSA at the national competition held June 5 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio. The contest was sponsored by the Council for Economic Education.
Thirty-three teams competed for the title. Each team had two hours to review a detailed fictitious family case study and develop a presentation and then present to the assembled judges. The teams were divided into four groups with one team advancing to the final round.
A team from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts took first place in the 2023 Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge.
The state competition sponsored by Economics Arkansas challenges students to review a fictitious case study of a family’s financial situation and then collaborate and prepare a presentation of suggestions for the family. Three finalists are chosen from the submitted presentations to present their ideas to a panel of expert judges.
ASMSA seniors Beatrice Nknuga of Sherwood and Ai’Yanna Tombs of North Little Rock teamed with junior Daniel Nkunga of Sherwood for this year’s state competition that was held in April. They took first place over the other final teams from Mountain Home High School and Little Rock Catholic High School.
This year’s case study involved a newlywed couple with two different lifestyles merging families within a limited financial framework. The groom was a long-term bachelor accustomed to living a bachelor lifestyle while taking care of his mother who resides in an assisted living facility. The bride was a single mother of two children with large financial debt and little savings while trying to find a balance between providing the necessities and offering her family some fun-filled experiences.
The team had to provide a viable financial plan for the family that would allow them to address the debt while maintaining appropriate housing and transportation.
“We tried to put ourselves in the family’s shoes,” said Beatrice Nkunga. “We understand that some of their decisions seemed ridiculously expensive, but we also felt that it was important to note that in life there has to be a balance between happiness and survival. The family was not too far gone!
“Using resources like budget-estimating websites, finding real-life houses and researching helpful money saving skills, we came up with a financial plan that could help them regain that balance between survival and finding joy in their new and changing life.”
Daniel Nkunga said that during his research for the project he approached the situation as if the couple were real people in a tough situation. He wanted to make sure that the changes the team suggested for the couple’s lifestyle wouldn’t affect their quality of life too greatly.
“When doing research, my focus was on using things within our designated area. When we decided to have them move into the Little Rock area for example, all of my future research was focused on using vendors and suppliers more specifically within about twenty minutes of their residence,” he said.
Tombs was a member of the ASMSA team that won the Arkansas Economic Challenge, also sponsored by Economics Arkansas earlier this spring. That experience influenced her decision to compete in the Personal Finance Challenge.
“I really enjoyed being presented with a problem and fixing it by looking at it from a new perspective. And because I enjoyed the economic perspective, I believed my new knowledge would transfer to the Personal Finance Challenge,” Tombs said.
Tombs reached out to the Nkunga siblings about joining her team. A second ASMSA team for the competition was already full. She was comfortable taking a leadership role for the team.
“I would like to think that I was the delegator and organizer of the team. If there was something to be researched, rearranged or written, I was on it,” said Tombs, who was also named Arkansas Economics Student of the Year during the Arkansas Economics Challenge.
While the first round was judge strictly based on what the teams submitted for consideration, the finals required the team to make an eight-minute live presentation before judges via Zoom. Beatrice Nkunga said the preparation for the presentation was nerve-wracking because it was difficult for the team to find time for all three to practice together.
“We didn’t get a full run-through until 9:30 p.m. the night before, and we couldn’t fit our presentation into the allotted eight minutes until just about an hour before the official presentation. All-in-all, I think we work pretty well together which helped us come together and made it work out,” she said.
During the awards ceremony held later that day, results were announced in reverse order with third place announced first followed by second place and then first. When the second-place team was announced, the team let out some huge sighs and quiet excitement.
“We were so excited, but we had to contain our celebration because we were still on the Zoom,” Tombs said. “I know when second place was announced, I definitely felt some relief that all of the hard work we had put into the presentation paid off.”
Beatrice Nkugna said she was very excited to hear the final results.
“We had heard so much about some of the other schools participating, and (we) were definitely up against some fierce competition,” she said. “But the satisfaction of not hearing our name called for second place was really nice. There is also something so thrilling about winning with a group, especially when that group consists of one of your best friends and your brother. I wouldn’t have celebrated that win with anyone else!”
Daniel Nkunga attended Little Rock Catholic High School prior to enrolling at ASMSA. Their team finished third in this year’s competition. He said the school had won the competition in previous years, making it special to be part of a team that placed higher this year.
“It felt great to beat them. When the other team’s name popped up on screen, I felt truly victorious,” he said.
The team earned a $500 prize for winning the state competition. They also qualified for the National Personal Finance Challenge sponsored by the Council for Economic Education that will be held June 4-5 in Cleveland.