KANSAS CITY, MO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/30/13 --
(NYSE: HRB) - In a face-off of financial wits, 16 teams of high school students from across the country battled for more than $56,000 in college scholarships during the finals of the H&R Block Dollars & Sense National Challenge. Held April 24-27 at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Calif. competitors demonstrated their financial acumen in an online simulation created to increase teens' personal finance skills.
Zechen Ma, Minnie Cui and Samuel Wu from Glenforest Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario won first place and each received a $7,500 scholarship. Second place went to Victoria Bouras, Gavin Denecke and Tom Ritzman from Badger High School in Lake Geneva, Wis., who each received a $5,000 scholarship. In third place taking home $2,000 scholarships were Trong Duc Bui, Danny DeLeon and Peter Davidson from Southwest Miami High School in Miami, Fla. An additional $9,000 in scholarships was awarded to teams finishing fourth through eighth in the competition.
Finalists competed against more than 2,500 student teams in two challenge rounds to qualify for the national finals. Through the Dollars & Sense program, H&R Block has awarded more than $3.5 million in personal finance curriculum and scholarships to high schools and students nationwide since October 2009.
"This program helps teens learn personal finance skills in a compelling way so they're better prepared when they're on their own," said Kelli Ramey, director of H&R Block Dollars & Sense. "We are so impressed with these students' performance and are confident they'll handle that responsibility well when the time comes. We're happy to get them started on the right financial foot by providing them with money for college in the meantime."
H&R Block Dollars & Sense was created to support local schools and help increase teens' financial fitness. To execute the challenge, H&R Block Dollars & Sense partnered with DECA and Knowledge Matters, two leaders in the education field. For more information about the program, visit www.hrblockdollarsandsense.com. For event photos, visit www.flickr.com/photos/hrbds.
About H&R Block Dollars & Sense
Funded by H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), one of the world's largest tax services providers, H&R Block Dollars & Sense provides personal finance curriculum to high schools and scholarships to students nationwide. Since 2009, H&R Block Dollars & Sense has donated more than $3 million in grants and scholarships. For more information, visit www.hrblockdollarsandsense.com.
About H&R Block
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world's largest consumer tax services provider. More than 600 million tax returns have been prepared worldwide by and through H&R Block since 1955. In fiscal 2012, H&R Block had annual revenues of $2.9 billion with 25.6 million tax returns prepared worldwide. Tax return preparation services are provided in company-owned and franchise retail tax offices by approximately 90,000 professional tax preparers, and through H&R Block At Home™ digital products. H&R Block Bank provides affordable banking products and services. For more information, visit the H&R Block Online Press Center.
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Source: H & R Block
