At the Federal Reserve Building of New York, freshmen Ishika Kaushik, Andhisty Mahmud, Priya Hendry, Sophia McDaniel and sophomore Ally Ellett competed in the semi-final round of the annual Euro Challenge on April 26. These students were one of  25 teams from across the country that won their regional competition earlier this spring and moved onto the national level to contend for cash prizes as well as a free trip to Washington D.C. to present their solutions to the embassy of the country they researched. The team was chaperoned by Amy Monaghan.

Launched by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, this competition asks teams of 9th and 10th grade students to become experts on the economic situation of the Eurozone and then propose solutions to an economic challenge facing one of the 19 Eurozone countries.

While most competitors come from the East Coast, Euro Challenge advisor Chris McQueen put together Inglemoor’s first team last year.

“This competition is unique in that it is very intellectually rigorous,” McQueen said.

Despite last year’s team’s inexperience, they had also qualified to compete at the national level. While they did not place, former team member and junior Emily Bass said they brought back valuable insight to share with this year’s team.

Bass said she and other Euro Challenge coaches put a particular emphasis on learning the fundamentals of macroeconomics and the Eurozone when the team first came together in September.

Using this basic knowledge and Euro Challenge resources, Ellett said the team chose “Promoting Investment and Innovation” as their challenge because “it seemed the most interesting to us.”

The team, Hendry said, then proceeded to choose Slovakia as their country because “it was one of the countries we thought we could most help.”

For the next several months, the team met regularly after school to build and refine their 15-minute presentation in which they played the roles of Slovakian government advisors suggesting investment opportunities in areas such as renewable resources and education. They gave this presentation at the end of March to the regional judges.

However, at the national level, McQueen said the caliber of competition is “really steep,” and unfortunately the team did not qualify for the final round.

Nevertheless, Hendry said she learned valuable skills such as thinking on her feet. Ellett said she will carry the knowledge she gained from this project with her later in life.

“I know a lot more about economics which is actually extremely helpful in understanding why things are doing what they are doing,” Ellett said.