Some sound financial choices of a couple of Northwest Early College High School students amounted to significant investments towards their futures.
Juniors Joaquin Rivera and Evelyn Ruiz were the top winners of the 2023 Prudential Math Challenge, where high-school students from the regions of Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties competed to solve a real-world problem using applied mathematics.
“We are proud of our students for not only taking the time to compete but getting the most out of their experience to be able to take what they learned and apply it to successfully complete the challenge and come out on top,” NWECHS Principal Frank Clark said. “They went up against students not only in our region but throughout several West Texas regions and took the top two of only three spots. That is something to be proud of.”
The Prudential Math Challenge is made possible through a grant awarded to the Workforce Solutions Borderplex through the Prudential Foundation to encourage post-secondary training and ensure students have opportunities to explore different career paths and gain financial literacy.
Rivera took first place and was awarded $3,000 while Ruiz took second place and received $2,000 to invest in their future education or training.
“Our goal is to make sure students have access to the resources necessary for the continuation of what comes after high school,” said Workforce Solutions Borderplex Youth Program Coordinator Odette Ruiz. “Through the challenge, they can become familiar with different financial services and actuarial science to promote financial literacy and career exploration.
The challenge consisted of participants learning the fundamentals of financial literacy that are utilized in day-to-day living such as credit scores, budgeting, health insurance, bank accounts and payroll.
“This year, the challenge delved into various financial areas where they had to create a budget using the knowledge they obtained during the workshop or in their own lives as well as implement some risk assessment such as choosing a health insurance or not,” said Workforce Solutions Borderplex Special Projects Director Jose Anaya. “Basic decisions that we have to make everyday in the real world.”