Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) announced its school and student winners of the second annual Financial Trivia Challenge powered by First National Bank, the largest subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB), on Friday morning. A total of 97 schools and 1,909 students competed in the challenge over 11,000 times, with the top three high schools and 10 students qualifying for monetary rewards.
 
Serra Catholic High School was the top participating school and receives a grant of $2,250, with their very own Luke Perez receiving $100 for placing fourth individually. Laurel Highlands High School had the second most participation and obtains a grant of $750, and South Park High School secures a $500 grant for having the third most participation. South Park has now finished inside the top three for participation in both years of the challenge after recording the most in 2023.
 
“This was a total team effort from the WPIAL, First National Bank, and the Serra Catholic business and math departments,” said Serra Catholic athletic director Cara DeSalvo. “Thanks to all those who offered this opportunity, and to our faculty and students who ran with it. I am so excited for our student Luke (Perez) and our school as a whole.”
 
“The students in my freshman life classes had a great time competing in the First National Bank Financial Trivia Challenge this year,” said Laurel Highlands business department teacher Jennifer Neill. “For most of them, the question topics were new, and after playing through the rounds a few times, began to sink in. Playing games that are both fun and educational is always a win in my book!”
 
“The versatility of the First National Bank Financial Trivia Challenge fostered participation from students spanning our math, social studies, technology, and business education departments,” added Laurel Highlands business department teacher Jeremy Bryson. “Having multiple attempts for the competition encouraged students to independently research financial literacy topics to improve their scores. This is the most organic form of learning.”
 
"I believe the First National Bank Financial Trivia Challenge provides a great opportunity for our students to start thinking about their financial responsibilities after high school,” said South Park athletic director Patrick Colligan. “Our faculty has done a tremendous job helping our students with the trivia challenge and incorporating it into their classwork. It is great to see our South Park students invest their time caring about their futures."
 
Maddox McAllister, a student at Laurel Highlands High School, received $600 for the highest score among participating students. Another Laurel Highlands student, Tyler Shuman, finished second and received $400, and Seneca Valley student Gianni Varlotta earned $250 for finishing third.
 
“I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Financial Trivia Challenge,” said McAllister. “Going to college in the fall, with the skills I learned through this challenge, they will help me make smart financial decisions to set me up for success in the future.”
 
The challenge also featured a monetary reward of $250 to the three schools with the highest participation in its first two weeks, with Freeport, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and Serra Catholic collecting the honors.
 
Serra Catholic’s league-leading participation stemmed from a complete effort to bring awareness of the Financial Trivia Challenge by the business and math departments, first introducing the competition to its personal finance management students before the math department faculty encouraged students across all classes and grade levels to take part.

“Financial education is foundational to FNB’s work throughout our communities, and we know it is especially influential among younger generations,” said Ronald Donatelli, President of FNB’s Pittsburgh Region. “The more that students understand these concepts now, the better equipped they are to make financial decisions and set goals that will positively impact them in the future.”
 
The top three high schools with the most participation were: 

Serra Catholic High School – $2,250
Laurel Highlands High School – $750
South Park High School – $500

The top 10 students with the highest scores were: 

Maddox McAllister (Laurel Highlands HS) – $600
Tyler Shuman (Laurel Highlands HS) – $400
Gianni Varlotta (Seneca Valley HS) – $250
Luke Perez (Serra Catholic HS) – $100
Ryan Revak (Laurel Highlands HS) – $100
Sienna Albano (Quaker Valley HS) – $100
Julian Varlotta (Seneca Valley HS) – $100
Guerin Edwards (Freeport HS) – $100
Nicole Parke (Freeport HS) – $100
Samantha Gray (South Park HS) – $100

The Financial Trivia Challenge was held from Oct. 23-Dec. 6, 2024. Participants had 90 seconds to answer as many financial-related trivia questions as possible. They could improve upon their score by participating up to 30 times, while comparing their results with others across the WPIAL on the leaderboard.
 
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