Wilbraham & Monson Academy has some future CEO’s in the Class of 2023.

The Titan team of Maddie Stoltz ’23, Kylie Bignell ’23, Julie Besse ’23 and Iva Radevic ’23 placed second in the high school division at the 2023 Massachusetts Personal Finance Challenge.

The statewide competition, sponsored by the Massachusetts Council for Economic and Personal Finance Education, asked questions in the field of Income and Money Management, Spending and Credit, and Saving and Investing. The students had 35 minutes to answer 30 multiple-choice questions.

Quotes from Mr. Jim Irzyk, Chair of WMA’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Economics & Finance

On why he wanted to enter a team in the Personal Finance Challenge: “Last spring, I entered a Middle School and Upper School team in the Massachusetts Economics Challenge (and the Middle School team finished in first place). This year, I noticed there was a Personal Finance Challenge so I organized four teams, with an all-female team by design. I am thankful and proud of the 14 students who participated in the Massachusetts Personal Finance Challenge.”

On the team placing second: “This all-female team comprises some of the best female CEEF students in recent WMA history. They are smart, determined, well-rounded business students and represented WMA extremely well in the competition.”

Quotes from the students

Kylie on the team placing second: “None of us were expecting to do well on the test that we took. We were all standing outside the classroom saying, "Why would we waste a Community Time on this?" This just goes to show how well our CEEF Department prepares us for opportunities like this.” 

Maddie on why she wanted to participate in the PFC: “I wanted to participate in the PFC because I am really passionate about business and finding new ways to challenge myself. Not to mention, I was also looking forward to applying all of the skills and knowledge that I had learned from the CEEF courses here at WMA.”