Move Over, Spelling Bees; Teens Tout Financial Knowledge in 'Money Bee'

By Jacqueline Molik Ghosen

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo School of Management and M&T Bank will host more than 80 students from 16 public, private and charter schools in the third annual “MoneySKILL® Mania,” a financial literacy competition for high school juniors and seniors.

The event will run from 9-11 a.m. on March 9 in UB’s Center for the Arts Screening Room on the North Campus.

Celebrity host Dennis George will lead the students through five rounds of finance-related questions, including a “current events” round sponsored by The Buffalo News.

Participants will be quizzed on a range of topics, including mortgages, stock, bonds, bankruptcy, interest and income, entering their answers electronically using UB’s “clicker” technology. Scores will be tallied automatically.

A notebook computer will be awarded to the highest-scoring student. Each member of the winning team will receive a $250 college savings fund. Teacher coaches of the winners will receive prizes as well.

The goal of the event is to increase awareness of MoneySKILL, a free, interactive Internet curriculum designed to educate students to make informed financial decisions on a variety of personal finance issues, including income, money management, credit, saving and investing.

The following schools will participate in the competition: Bennett High School, Clarence High School, Depew High School, Erie 1 BOCES Legal Academy, Frewsburg Central School, Harkness Career & Technical Center, Holy Angels Academy, Lake Shore Senior High School, Lancaster High School, Niagara Wheatfield High School, North Collins Jr./Sr. High School, Orchard Park High School, Sacred Heart Academy, Springville-Griffith Institute, St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and Western New York Maritime Charter School.

MoneySKILL was developed by Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and managerial economics in the UB School of Management, in collaboration with the American Financial Services Association Education Foundation.

Tests of the financial knowledge of teenagers consistently show poor performance. For example, on the 2008 Jump$tart Survey of Financial Literacy among High School Students, a biennial survey of 12th graders, participants answered an average of only 48.3 percent of the test questions correctly. Over the past 10 years, scores have ranged from a high of 57 percent to the 2008 low of 48.3 percent—all within the range of a failing grade.

M&T Bank Corporation, founded in 1856, is one of the top 20 commercial bank holding companies in the nation, with $69 billion in assets and more than 750 branch offices in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington D.C. More information is available at www.mtb.com.

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the UB School of Management No. 9 in the nation among schools with strong regional recruiting bases. In addition, BusinessWeek has ranked the school as one of the country's top 5 business schools for the fastest return on MBA investment, and Forbes has cited it as one of the best business schools in the U.S. for the return on investment it provides MBA graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.