COURTLAND
Southampton High School and Technical Career Center announced at Monday evening’s board meeting the names of the four students who were traveling to Richmond to take part in the championship round of The Governor’s Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance.

The rigorous, statewide competition was this weekend at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Under the guidance of Natasha Preau, a teacher within the business and technology department at Southampton, the students exercised skills in personal finance and be tested on their knowledge of economic concepts throughout the day-long competition.

The four-person team, comprised of freshman Christian Granger, junior Robert Hawkins and seniors Jack Hooppaw and Michael Sheilds, placed first in the David Ricardo Division (economics) of the regional championships. They were among 164 peers competing at the state level.

Because the challenge was online, Southampton was not made aware of its first place finish until the Virginia Department of Education notified the school late last week. More than 3,200 students participated in the online portion of the competition.

“We’ll be looking forward to how they do on April 17,” school superintendent Dr. Alvera J. Parrish said on Monday. “Our board is always proud of the work that our students do.”