Mountain America Credit Union Awards $14,000 to DECA Challenge High Schools

WEST JORDAN, UT--(Marketwire - Mar 14, 2013) -  Three Utah high schools took top honors at the inaugural DECA Financial Literacy Challenge hosted by Mountain America Credit Union, earning top finisher Herriman High School $10,000, second place Syracuse High School $3,000 and third-place finisher Timpview High School $1,000.

For the challenge, all Utah high schools with DECA clubs were eligible to compete to create the most effective financial literacy marketing campaign. Clubs were judged on their marketing plan, creative brief and creative concepts, execution, results, and their presentation and paper for the recent DECA state conference and competition.

"Mountain America's goal is to encourage high school students to take an active role in their financial education," said Sharon Cook, senior vice president of marketing and PR for Mountain America. "The earlier a person learns about personal finances and can take charge of their financial future, the smoother their financial road tends to be in adulthood. For example, becoming familiar with online resources and gaining hands-on experience with one's own checking account will pay great dividends. Our DECA challenge was a success as we saw high school students educating their peers on these important subjects."

Dale Stephens, state marketing specialist and DECA coordinator for the Utah State Office of Education, said, "Mountain America's challenge to our high school students to increase financial literacy has benefited and enhanced the learning of both the DECA clubs and their schools. Our schools responded with terrific campaigns, and the students appreciate the real-world financial and marketing skills they've developed through this competition."

More financial literacy information for youth can be found on Mountain America's student blog at blog.macu.com/student.

Mountain America Credit Union has more than $3 billion in assets and serves more than 400,000 members wherever they are through online and mobile banking, Mountain America branches in five states, and more than 30,000 ATMs and 5,000 shared-branching locations nationwide. With Utah credit union roots dating back to the 1930s, Mountain America has become a tradition for many members, offering a variety of financial products and services for consumers and businesses, including savings accounts, auto loans, checking accounts, mortgage loans, business checking, SBA loans and retirement options. Visit www.macu.com for more information.