ANN ARBOR, MICH., March 26, 2010 – International Academy Central of Bloomfield Hills has won the Michigan preliminary round of the EURO Challenge 2010 Regional Competition and will be advancing to the semi-final round of the competition in New York City on April 27, 2010. The student team will be competing against teams from 10 other states. Other high schools competing in this regional round included: International Academy East, Troy; International Academy Macomb, Clinton Township; and Lakeland High School, White Lake. International Academy Central, under the guidance of faculty advisor Steve Eschrich, also won the Michigan competition in 2009 and went on to place fourth in the national competition.

The EURO Challenge is an exciting educational opportunity for high school students to learn about the European Union and the euro. Student teams of 9th and 10th graders are asked to make presentations answering specific questions about the European economy as a whole and the single currency, the euro. Teams have been preparing since December in hopes of winning the trip to New York to compete in the semi-finals and a chance to go on to the finals.
International Academy Central’s team will compete at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building on April 27, 2010. Semi-final competitions will take place in the morning, and the five finalist teams will be announced later in the day. The winning teams will receive cash prizes provided by the Moody’s Foundation, along with a trip to Washington, D.C. for the top two teams.

This year, 76 high school teams from 11 states (Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia) competed in regional
competitions. The EURO Challenge is a program launched and supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States in close cooperation with w!se (Working in Support of Education) and with the technical support of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in partnership with the Moody’s Foundation, Credit Suisse and Deloitte & Touche. The Michigan regional competition is hosted by the Center for European Studies-European Union Center at the U-M International Institute’s Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia.

SPONSOR: Center for European Studies-European Union Center.
WEB LINKS: www.ii.umich.edu/ces-euc and www.euro-challenge.org

The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) supports faculty and student research, teaching, collaboration, and public engagement in studying the institutions, cultures, and histories of these regions. WCEE is housed in the University of Michigan International Institute with the Center for European Studies-European Union Center (CES-EUC); the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies (CREES); and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED). Named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser and inspired by their time in Slovakia during Ambassador Weiser’s service as U.S. ambassador from 2001-04, WCEE began operations in September 2008. For more information, visit http://www.ii.umich.edu/wcee.
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