An Auburn High School DECA Chapter Team won first place at the International DECA Competition in Louisville, Ky., on April 24-27 for their financial literacy project, “Road to Riches.”

Haylee Rice and Alyssa Opland co-chaired the project and completed the 30-page written plan and 15-minute judged presentation. The project implemented multiple activities aimed to educate students on personal finance and to influence lawmakers. One hundred and fifty financial literacy projects were entered into competition. Winners Rice and Opland were announced at the Grand Awards Ceremony at the Kentucky Convention Center.

More than 14,000 students from as far away as Germany attended the competition.

“Imagine how different the economy would be today if every child knew the basic pillars of financial money management: saving, spending and sharing,” said Lori Jacobs, Auburn High School DECA advisor. “I am proud of the students that implemented the financial literacy project. We have already started planning our chapter activities for next year.”

The students of Auburn High School DECA have made financial literacy a top priority this year, staying true to their mission of sharing their knowledge of business and finance with other students. By incorporating personal finance education into the Auburn School District curriculum, the AHS DECA Chapter hopes to make the integration of financial literacy a reality in K-12 school curricula statewide and eventually nationwide.