News Release

December 11, 1998
Contact: Staci Schiller, (415) 974-3240

SAN FRANCISCO -- University High School of Tucson, Arizona, recently won the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economics Challenge competition, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and State Councils on Economic Education.

The five-member team, coached by economics teacher Steven Reff, bested winners of regional Economics Challenge Competitions from California, Idaho, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Utah to win the title. Daniel Bartlett, Matthew Conaty, Renata Keller, Kirk McGettigan, and Wyatt Unger each received a $200 savings bond for their first-place finish.

Second place--and $100 savings bonds--went to teacher Carl Schmidt's team of Jennifer Lee, Rajesh Nishtala, Justin Powell, Eddy Talvala, and Matt Zhang of Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California. Sunset High School from Portland, Oregon, claimed the third-place spot. Coached by teacher Paul Copely, team members David Barclay, Kate Gruher, and Ray Siu were awarded $50 savings bonds for their efforts.

University High School's McGettigan also was named the top individual student out of all competitors, correctly answering all multiple-choice questions to win an additional $200 savings bond.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economics Challenge was the first competition of its kind in the Federal Reserve's western region. Eight teams of three to five students received all-expenses-paid trips to San Francisco to participate. They competed in the areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics (with an emphasis on the Federal Reserve System and money and banking), international and comparative systems, and current economic issues.