Sikeston sophomore awarded $20,000 scholarship from nationwide student budget challenge

SIKESTON -- For the second time in less than a year, a Sikeston High School was awarded a $20,000 scholarship through a nationwide student budget challenge.

Sophomore Kylie Hutcheson, who is the daughter of Christy Hutcheson and Stan Parham of Sikeston, will receive a $20,000 scholarship through the H&R Block Budget Challenge.

The challenge is a free, interactive, real-life simulation personal financial education program that rewards students for mastering real-world budgeting and personal finance decision-making.

Hutcheson is one of 66 winners nationwide and competed against over 20,000 other students, including over 150 of her fellow classmates.

Hutcheson's personal finance teacher Christine Spurlock was also awarded a $2,500 grant for her students' exemplary performance in the Challenge. The grant money can be used for anything from classroom supplies and technology to extracurricular field trips.

Local H&R Block representatives will present the awards Friday during halftime of the boys varsity basketball game at the Sikeston Field House.

"We're so proud of Kylie for being among the top-performing students in the country for the H&R Block Budget Challenge," Spurlock said. "Financial literacy is important to the future success of our students, and we're thrilled there's such a hands-on platform through which they can learn these necessary skills."

The H&R Block Budget Challenge works by replicating an adult's financial life, requiring students to pay virtual bills, save for retirement and repay student loans, all from the safety of a classroom.

Through the process, they learn about budgeting, understanding their paychecks, W2 forms and taxes, 401(k), insurance, savings, loans and credit.

Students from across the nation who participate in this virtual program compete for $3 million in college scholarships and classroom grants.

The challenge is completed in real-time with each day in the simulation equaling one day in real life.

"I had no idea I was going to do that well," said Hutcheson. "I wasn't even close at the beginning of the challenge."

The challenge ran from October through Dec. 4.

As the challenge neared the end, Hutcheson said she noticed her rankings kept getting better. Students were able see how they were performing daily.

Hutcheson said she would race after home from school to work on her budget. She even downloaded the Challenge's app to her phone so she could monitor and participate even more.

She also stayed up many nights until 12:30 a.m., when rankings and scores were updated.

Hutcheson said she officially learned about her award via an email she received last month.

"I was dancing in my kitchen and screamed," she recalled.

Christy Hutcheson laughed as she recalled hearing her daughter that night.

"It still gives me goosebumps," she said.

Her mother said Hutcheson's real world will kick in later this month when the teen turns 16 and starts driving.

"She will get a job. We expect big things from her," Christy Hutcheson laughed. "I'm super proud of her. She worked hard."

The program was created to help address the need for more financial education in the classroom. Only 7 percent of high school students are financially literate, according to George Washington University School of Business. U.S. Financial Capability said fewer than 30 percent of adults report being offered financial education at school or college.

The state of Missouri currently requires a course in financial education to graduate high school so all SHS students take one semester of personal finance to to satisfy that requirement.

SHS instructors Will Holifield and Spurlock added this online simulation to the course to make learning about money management more enjoyable and engaging for their students.

"We're thankful for resources like the H&R Block Budget Challenge that help teach our students to take control of their financial future," Spurlock said.

Although they didn't qualify for the scholarships, these SHS students fell into the top 100 of the 20,043 students who participated nationwide: Garrett Middleton, 24th; Emma Grimes, 30th; and Brian Harris, 91st.

Of the 919 school teams nationwide, Spurlock's accounting class, which included Hutcheson, placed 10th while three of Spurlock's personal finance courses ranked 16th, 17th and 71st.

Last year, 94,000 students participated in the H&R Block Budget Challenge in 5,600 classrooms across all 50 states. In the first year of the program, 133 students received $20,000 scholarships, and one overall winner received a $100,000 scholarship toward his college education.

One of the trickier moments of Hutcheson's simulated budget came when she had to pay a $500-deductible for renter's insurance after her laptop was stolen, the teen recalled.

"I learned a lot," she said, adding it was challenging to know when to schedule the payments and move finances around while not overdrawing her account.

The sophomore said she's undecided about which college she'd like to attend and what she will study, but she is considering Missouri State University.

Hutcheson said commended Spurlock.

"She's such a great teacher," Hutcheson said.

Anyone who has an iPad and is between the ages of 14 and 18 has no reason why they shouldn't participate in this challenge, Spurlock said.

The finance teacher said she uses a comment made by SHS student Eric Gordon, who as sophomore was awarded $20,000 from the challenge last spring, to encourage her students to get involved.

"I always think what Eric said," Spurlock recalled. "He said: 'Somebody has to win. It might as well be me.'"

Spurlock said she encourages students, parents and community members to learn more about the budget challenge.

She added: "It can change their lives."

The H&R Block Budget Challenge is available for free to high school teachers and home school educators. Educators can sign up their classes in one of three simulations will launch in spring 2016 at HRBDS.org.

For this story and more, see the Thursday edition of the Standard Democrat.