Omaha Student Wins 1st Place in Money Smart Week Poster Contest

Macy Cunard, 6th grade student attending St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic School in Omaha has won 1st Place in Community Bankers of Iowa’s (CBI) annual Money Smart Week Poster Contest.  As the Grand Prize winner, Macy received a $600 Certificate of Deposit.  Macy’s poster was submitted for judging by Northwest Bank headquartered in Spencer, Iowa.  This marks the 7th year in a row that Northwest Bank has submitted a prize-winning or honorable-mention poster.  

CBI has hosted the Money Smart Week Poster Contest since 1999, as part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Money Smart Week events (held April 15-21, 2023).  To enter the Poster Contest, elementary students in 2nd through 6th grades submitted designs answering the question: “Why is it important to know about money?” The state-wide Poster Contest is sponsored at the local level by participating community banks, who submit the contest entries they receive to CBI for final judging.  All poster submissions were evaluated based on overall message, creativity and workmanship.  Macy and the other two finalists beat over 1,000 other poster entries received from schools throughout Iowa.

“Macy’s poster design did the best job of explaining why financial literacy is a critical component of education”, said Krissy Lee, CBI’s Communications Director and Administrator of the CBI Education Foundation.  “Her design demonstrated that she understands the uses of financial products overall and how this knowledge affects our daily lives. Financial literacy for all students is CBI’s and Money Smart Week’s mission, and what we hope they gain by entering the Poster Contest.”

Clay Baker, Regional Bank President of Northwest Bank in Omaha shared, “As community bankers, we’re proud to play a part in educating our youth on the importance of financial literacy. It’s exciting to have a local student be recognized for her efforts in presenting why it’s important to know about money”.

The Grand Prize-winning student receives a $600 Certificate of Deposit, and 2nd and 3rd Place students each receive a $300 Certificate of Deposit.  Each year, 2-3 other posters are also awarded Honorable Mention certificates.  Macy’s poster will be featured with the other contest winners in CBI newsletters and other communications, as well as in CBI social media and on their website, www.cbiaonline.org.

For more information on Money Smart Week, visit www.moneysmartweek.org.

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Northwest Bank is a $2.47 billion community bank that offers a full line of business, agricultural, mortgage, consumer deposit and lending services as well as wealth management and insurance services. Northwest Bank has offices located in Algona, Ames, Arnolds Park, Ankeny, Estherville, Fort Dodge, Humboldt, Le Mars, Milford, Sioux Center, Sioux City, Spencer, Spirit Lake, West Des Moines, Iowa and Omaha and La Vista, Nebraska.