The Adrian Wilcox High School Business Experience Club students in Santa Clara are on the move even while sheltering in place.
The “No New Taxes Remastered” team of four seniors from the club earned first place in the 2020 National Personal Finance Challenge held — for the first time via Zoom — on May 4.
“I’m really proud of all the students in the club. We won the state championship two times in a row. And now the national,” said business teacher Anthony Raffetto, club co-director with retired teacher Janet Armstrong, who started the club about nine years ago.
Including state competitions, the winning seniors competed among 9,316 students from every state. They received the grand award of $8,000.
What do teammates Jonathan Chang, Shaunak Kale, Shivaansh Kapoor and Pratinav Sharma intend to do with the $2,000 each they won?
Invest a chunk of it in their educations, for sure. In the fall, Chang plans to attend UC Berkeley; Kale and Kapoor, UC Santa Barbara; and Sharma, UC Santa Cruz.
Another chunk will go to savings and financial investments.
“It’s most important for young people to understand the time value of money and the power of compounding,” said Kapoor, who was born in India and brought to the U.S. at four.
“The earlier you start saving, investing, putting money into retirement, the more it will grow and compound. Your investment will grow exponentially.”
The students have learned lessons about life as well as personal finances.
“We worked to our strengths, and we learned to work as a team,” said Kapoor, speaking for the team. “The team that will win is the team that works together, even in the face of adversity, and adapts to the new circumstances fastest.”
The team qualified first through objective testing and then live role plays via Zoom. Coached by Armstrong and Raffetto, they debated strategy, honed their presentation and PowerPoint skills, and practiced mock scenarios. They often worked online for hours at a time until 10 p.m.
“Teamwork takes effort and trust,” said Armstrong. “The boys grew in trust, trusting their teammates to do it right.”
For the final national round, the competition was narrowed to Wilcox High School, second-place Hamilton Southeastern High School in Indiana, and Saint Thomas Academy in Minnesota.
The teams had one hour and 55 minutes to prepare a financial plan to meet the goals of the fictional Hernandez family of four in Miami. Each team pitched its plan to a team of six investment professionals.
Armstrong credits the business club’s affiliation with DECA, a national organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to be college and career ready, with giving the students a professional edge. For example, in the state competitions, a judge noted that Wilcox was the only team to compete wearing suits and ties.
“We’re super thankful for our advisors and that we got the opportunity to do this in this COVID-19 situation,” said Kapoor.
I am proud of this outstanding group of Wilcox Business Students. We are grateful for their work in support of bringing back our historic non profit Parade of Champions last year—first time in 24 years. In 2019, I met Janet Armstrong, the Wilcox CTE adviser at a SVC Chamber meeting. She introduced me to Wilcox Business Professor Anthony Rafetto and his DECA team students in 2019. The students chose the SC Parade of Champions as their 2019 DECA community awareness project. They were amazing and placed in the the Top 10 out of 100s of students with the SCPOC project. These Students supported our community outreach efforts all year long. We love their enthusiasm and determination. In fact they are currently working with our non profit organizations again for the 2020 parade on 9/26 of this year. We at the Santa Clara Parade of Champions are proud of their many achievements. Get involved or Learn more about our beloved tradition at www.scparadeofchampions.org
Or follow us on Facebook at Santa Clara Parade of Champions.
Who doesn’t love a parade? ❤️
Ana Vargas-Smith
SCPOC President
We are a 501c3 NPO
Congratulations Wilcox Students!
I’m amazed by the Dedication and Perseverance of this group. They give their whole heart to everything they work on. As a member of the SC Parade of Champions, I was honored to work with them at a few festivals to promote our Parade and especially on Parade Day. I know they will continue to do great in any community that they are a part of.
Patti Allmon
SCPOC