This year, the annual Delaware Personal Finance Challenge at the University of Delaware saw twice as many teams and twice as many schools competing than in previous years.

This boost in participation is the result of a targeted effort by UD’s Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship (CEEE) to forge new relationships with Delaware high schools not previously offering personal finance classes, and to strengthen relationships with teachers already doing so.

While schools may prepare students for the competition using different curriculum resources, all teams completing online qualifying tests this year stemmed from schools using the CEEE’s “Keys to Financial Success” curriculum.

Students from Smyrna High School demonstrated exceptional knowledge of this curriculum as winners of this year’s competition after taking the lead in the first round. Leading the winning team was teacher Mario Tiberi, a current student of the CEEE’s Master of Arts in Economics and Entrepreneurship for Educators program.

The first place students – tenth graders Anthony Buscemi, Chris Desir, Lauren Iglio and Tyler Yeomans – and Tiberi each received a $1,000 cash prize and an all-expense paid trip to Kansas City for the national competition in May. Second place finishers from Newark Charter School received cash prizes totaling $2,500.

“I love this event,” Tiberi said. “It’s a great incentive for the students.”

Tiberi’s students were among 68 Delaware high school students who spent the morning in UD’s Perkins Student Center, transitioning between taking rigorous exams on financial topics and answering lighter trivia questions about pop culture and other relevant topics for prizes.

Tiberi, who has taught economics and personal finance at Smyrna High School for 11 years, said that most of his students have not had opportunities to get jobs, driver’s licenses or credit cards, so they often have no real-world experience in the topics of personal finance and economics.

This is where “Keys to Financial Success” comes in. This complete curriculum is designed to help teachers instruct their students in personal finance and economics using active and collaborative learning. The CEEE, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, has offered “Keys to Financial Success” to schools in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 2001.

“We use the ‘Keys’ material from the CEEE; it is a great way for them to dig into the material because they can’t use it in real life yet,” Tiberi said.

Iglio, a member of the Smyrna team, said that economics is one of her favorite subjects.

“I like how, out of all the courses, this teaches you how to be the most well-prepared for real life,” Iglio said. “It inspires me to be smart with my money and prepared for the future. It’s a really cool experience for us to be out here; it’s great to get together with people from a bunch of different schools and we all just love economics.”

Scott Bacon, CEEE program coordinator, said that the center is pleased by the impact that the “Keys to Financial Success” curriculum has, and its role in helping teachers to impart valuable life skills on their students.

“We know through research that ‘Keys to Financial Success’ works, and seeing [students] come here and show us how well it works is an amazing experience,” Bacon said. “The fact that they’re here and happy to show off their financial knowledge is amazing, and knowing this will make a difference in their financial lives is very rewarding.”

Bank of America continues to be a valued partner in the challenge, providing both financial and in-kind support. A dozen volunteers from the company were in attendance to help run the competition.

Connie Montana, Bank of America Delaware’s community relations manager, said Bank of America and the CEEE share common goals, so the company is happy to sponsor events like this.

“We are partners with the CEEE in support of their financial education programs throughout the year,” Montana said. “We have one sole purpose, to make financial lives better, so that’s why we support the work the CEEE is doing. They are aligned with our purpose.”

Montana said the “Keys to Financial Success” program helps students think about careers and learn about incomes and other real-life decisions they will have to face after high school and college.