Millionaire’s Club Team Takes Top National Honors

Students at a Howard County, MD high school overcame several thousand other teams across the country in a competition that demonstrated personal financial skills they’ve mastered in school.

Howard County’s Applications and Research Lab, a business and technology-focused high school, outperformed 3,979 teams in a qualifying round before progressing to claim victory over 23 other teams to win in the national finals.

All four members of the championship team are participants in the Millionaire’s Club, a financial education program created by the Credit Union Foundation MD|DC.  The ARL Millionaire’s Club is sponsored by SECU of Maryland.

The school’s national team was led by faculty Club adviser Maddy Halbach and included students Austin Adamczyk, Brooke Rankin, Johnathan Taylor and Matthew Poltorak.  Austin Adamczyk serves as an intern at Howard County Education Federal Credit Union and Matthew Poltorak is a student representative on their Board of Directors.

The National Personal Finance Challenge was hosted by the Missouri Council on Economic Education at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City.

A month before their win in the finals, the team beat out 28 teams across Maryland to take the state title in a competition run by the Maryland Council on Economic Education.  Another Millionaire’s Club team from Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicott City placed second in the State competition.  That Club is sponsored by Howard County Education FCU.

Maryland’s Personal Finance Challenge, sponsored by M&T Bank.

“Students who participate in the Millionaire’s Club receive a definite advantage; both in these structured competitions and throughout their lives,” noted Kyle Swisher, Executive Director of the Credit Union Foundation MD|DC, creator of the Millionaire’s Club.  Over 1,500 students participate in the Millionaire’s Club which is active at 23 sites.

The Millionaire’s Club is a financial education program currently available to schools throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia.  Preparations are underway for a national expansion.

For more information on the Millionaire’s Club financial freedom experience, visit cufound.org/millionaire.