Courtesy photo Front row, left to right, Members of the Merrimack High School FinLit team Rachel Easley, Tiffany Knowles, Katie Tibbitts and Coach Caroline Masterson. Back row, left to right, Danny Vanecek, Zach Lachance, Assistant Coach Tammy Lambrou, Jacob Medeiros and Jake Michalewicz.

CONCORD – A team of Merrimack High School seniors beat out nearly 60 teams from New Hampshire high schools to become back to back NH FinLit300 state champions at the Grappone Conference Center on April 11.

Each member of the Merrimack squad, including Rachel Easley, Tiffany Knowles, Katie Tibbitts, Danny Vanecek, Zach Lachance, Jacob Medeiros, Jake Michalewicz, was awarded a $100 bill and the team took home a giant trophy for taking top honors at the competition.

“They are an amazing group and I am beyond proud of them,” said coach Caroline Masterson. “We love the FinLit300 Program and are excited to be back to back state champs.”

Organized by the New Hampshire Jump$tart Coalition, FInLit300 is a powerful educational opportunity that helps to teach teenagers in grades 9-12 to be smart, responsible and financially-literate adults. The program is designed to be an exciting nine match elimination tournament using a game show/quiz bowl format. Nine teams compiled the top scores and earned the right to meet for the state crown after several weeks of study and online competition. In addition to the cash prize awarded to the Merrimack students, the team’s coach, Caroline Masterson, received a scholarship to attend the National Jump$tart Teacher Conference in November in Washington, D.C.

The Question Masters for the event were Jeff Feingold, editor of the NH Business Review; Marc Hebert of the Harbor Group, and Sean McDonald of WMUR-TV.

Taking part in the FinLit300 competition has prepared each of the Merrimack seniors for their post-graduation plans. Team member Rachel Easley will attend Fairfield University; Tiffany Knowles is the class Valedictorian and will be in the Honors Program at Bentley University; Katie Tibbitts will attend Bryant University; Danny Vanecek will attend University of New Hampshire; Zach Lachance will attend University of New Hampshire; Jacob Medeiros is taking a gap year and Jake Michalewicz will attend Bryant University.

Other student teams that competed from around the state included Goffstown High School, Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Moultonborough Academy, Newfound Regional High School, Pinkerton Academy, Raymond High School and Winnacunnet High School.