Personal Finance students finish 1, 2 at State

Four Montezuma High School business teams competed in the Iowa finals of the National Personal Finance Competition April 17 at the DMACC Urban Campus in Des Moines.

Two Montezuma groups advanced to the finals, where both delivered excellent presentations in front of the full room. After long deliberation to rank the top four, Montezuma teams were named both State Champion and State Runner-Up.

All four teams qualified for the state finals by finishing top two in the Southeast Iowa region of the district test portion, completed in the fall or spring.

"All 16 teams at the state finals were given a six-page case study that they had one hour to analyze before preparing a seven-minute group presentation in front of a panel of judges, analyzing the family's financial dynamics, preparing a budget, and providing solutions for each goal the family had, given the budget constraints," said Kevin Gartman, MHS Business teacher.

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Each team presented in one of two judging rooms, with the top two teams from each room advancing to a group of four that presented in front of all judges and all participants.

"Each Montezuma team showcased their personal finance knowledge well, combined with strong public speaking skills," said Gartman.

Out of 220 teams participating in each level of the competition, the four Montezuma teams finished first, second, fifth and seventh.

The first-place team consisted of Makenna Johannes, Madison Van Zee, Alivia Cline and Camryn Brennan

Kaya Latcham, Cruz DeJong, Peyton Minner and Jack Erselius were on the second-place team.

Alex Black, Garrett Watts, Briar Simpson and Lars Taylor placed fifth, and Isabella Roorda, Lydia Singleton, Faith Ferry and Karlee Knust placed seventh.

The State Champion Montezuma team advances to the National Finals, held in Cleveland, Ohio, May 19-20.