Euro Challenge

As one of the newest European Union Centers of Excellence in the United States, we are delighted to be participating for the first time in the Euro Challenge, a national competition open to 9th and 10th grade students examining the European Union, its economy, and its currency, the euro.

What is the Euro Challenge?

The Euro Challenge is a national competition open to teams of 9th and 10th grade students and is supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

The competition begins at the regional level. In Texas, the regional competition will take place in March 2012 at the University of Texas at Austin. Students compete in teams of 3-5 students. There may only be one team per school.

The best teams from each U.S. region travel to New York City to compete in the national finals in April 2012 at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Conditional on an annual grant, winning teams can win awards and a trip to Washington generously offered by The Moody's Foundation.

What do teams do for the competition?

For the competition, students are asked to make a 15-minute presentation in which they are required to:

1. Describe the current economic situation in the euro area (the economic region consisting of the 17 EU member countries who have adopted the euro).
2. Select one economic-related challenge confronting the euro area as a whole (see list below), and pick one of the 17 member countries of the euro area to illustrate that challenge.
3. Recommend a policy or policies for addressing the challenge you identified in the country you selected. Be sure to include in your recommendation a discussion of how having a single currency may or may not affect the policy choices for addressing the challenge.

Teams can choose one of the following economic-related challenges:

• Slow growth
• High unemployment
• Inflation
• Adapting to technological change (raising productivity)
• Globalization (including immigration)
• Aging (including health care)
• Living with a single monetary policy
• Sustaining the social system (welfare state)
• Coping with a housing market slowdown
• High government deficits and debt

Presentations are followed by 10 minutes of questioning by a panel of judges who are educators or experts in European economic affairs.

What type of assistance will teachers have?

We certainly know that your 9th and 10th graders aren't experts on the EU economy, so we want to do everything we can to assist teams to be successful. Check out the Resources Page where we have some links and articles to get your students started. There are also some fantastic resources available at the Euro Challenge website - the "official" website of the competition.

Euro Challenge Mentors
We're also pleased to be able to offer the Euro Challenge Mentors - graduate students who are ready to assist teams to help direct their research and field questions that might come up. They'll also help you keep them motivated until March rolls around! Once you register your team, please also contact Sally Dickson so that she can tell you more about the mentors and team you up with one of these fantastic students.

What are the goals of the Euro Challenge?

• Increase students' knowledge and understanding of the European Union and the euro
• Promote an understanding of economic challenges facing European Union member states
• Support local learning standards related to global studies and economics
• Foster economic and financial literacy and understanding of economic policy issues

• Develop communication, critical thinking and cooperative skills.

 Who is eligible to participate?

• High schools located in regions coordinated by partner institutions (i.e., participating Federal Reserve banks or European Union Centers of Excellence at several US universities - UT Austin is a EU Center of Excellence). Emphasis is put on the participation of public high schools.
• The participation of one team, consisting of three to five 9th and 10th grade students in global studies, economics, world history/geography or European studies classes.

• One faculty advisor for the school team. Advisors will be invited to attend a teacher orientation seminar, and are required to attend the Euro Challenge competition rounds with their student team.

Where can I get additional information?

Information Webinar
An orientation webinar was held on October 14 for all teachers who are interested in putting together a team from their school.

To listen to a recording of the webinar, please go to:
http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventID=23377503

For more information on the Euro Challenge and complete rules, please go to the Euro Challenge website. 

For any questions, please contact our Outreach Coordinator, Sally Dickson at ces@austin.utexas.edu or 512-232-4311.

To register, please go to the Euro Challenge website's registration page.