Chantilly High has a new, state-champion team — and it’s not in athletics, but academics. On April 17, the economics team defeated 11 other top-ranked teams to win the Virginia championship in economics for the school’s seventh time.

It took place at VCU in Richmond, and the four-person team took home the trophy for the Governor’s Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance. It was presented by the Virginia Council on Economic Education.

“I’m very proud of them,” said economics teacher and team coach Joe Clement. “I never had a doubt they were going to win. They’re extremely bright and motivated and worked hard. This was as good as any team I’ve ever had.”

Comprising the team are juniors Julie Estrada and Tim Reid and seniors Joon Cho and Revanth Kolli, all AP economics students. The after-school group began meeting weekly in late January. “We go over problems and any material we haven’t covered in class, yet,” said Estrada.

Competitors must have a full knowledge of micro economics — the study of individuals, firms and households — as well as macro economics, which deals with the whole economy, unemployment, inflation and the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and how it works.

“The state competition is in April and they hadn’t learned everything in class, yet, because it goes until June,” said Clement. “So they had to, essentially, learn the course on their own.”

First came an online test that 80-100 schools, including Chantilly, took in March. Only the top 12 teams got invited to the state championship. “As a team, we do really well,” said Cho. “But on the individual quizzes to qualify for states, it’s harder, because we can’t confer.” Ultimately, though, Chantilly did qualify.

The state contest began with a written test. “But having all the other competitors in the room — and knowing all of them were very good at economics — energized us,” said Estrada. “It was game time — time to turn on the heat and crush.”

Reid said the first round asked questions about general, economic concepts “or things we had to apply our economics knowledge to, to answer.” There were 30 questions. Each correct answer yielded 10 points; incorrect, minus 5 points; and unanswered, no points.

For example, said Kolli, “They’d give you data about the consumer price index and ask you to calculate what’s missing, given some part of it.”

It was basic material, said Estrada, “But you have to know intimately what the overarching concept is, and means, for any question before you can answer it.”

Kolli said the questions dealt with broader topics than the online test had, and one part was about current events. For instance, said Estrada, “They asked, roughly, what’s the current [U.S.] GDP and which countries do and do not use the Euro. So we also had to know international economics.”

“The first 30 questions were on micro and macro economics,” said Reid. “We had 40 minutes and answered individually. The next 15 questions were on international trade and current events, and we did them as a team; we had 20 minutes.”

Estrada said the international section was toughest because “even if you had tons of background, economic knowledge, you either knew these facts or you didn’t. But people did better on various parts of it, according to their own strengths.”

Kolli liked the 26-question “buzzer round” best. “After we took both written tests, they took the scores of the two highest teams — us and Freedom High in Loudoun County — to determine who’d be in the buzzer round,” he said. “Like on ‘Jeopardy,’ you had 15 seconds to answer a question after you buzzed in.”

The first team answering 16 questions correctly won, and that was Chantilly. Reid was the captain. “I had to give our team’s answer after we’d conferred,” he said.

Cho also liked that part best because “adrenaline is in your head and you’re thinking really hard about the answer and just itching to buzz in. And you’re actually physically competing with someone.”

Economics appeals to Reid because he likes “knowing how the resources are allocated in this world and why that happens.” Both Estrada’s parents have undergrad degrees in economics, so interest in it runs in her family.

“It’s interesting because so many economic principles can be applied to so many other facets of the real world, such as decision-making,” she said. “I’m considering economics as a field of study to maybe launch into business.”

Kolli said he can use his knowledge of economics “to figure out things on an international scale, and it’ll help me in the future.” He’ll attend UVA and may major in both computer science and economics.

Cho says studying economics teaches people how to think. “When you think of cost, you think of an object’s price — for example, $1/pencil,” he said. “But you never think of the opportunity cost — what else you could have spent that dollar on. So you’re not just giving up that dollar, you’re also giving up that opportunity to buy other things — so it’s a life lesson.”

He said the platforms in the last presidential election focused on the economy, even though “most people don’t really understand how economics works.” Cho also said technology creates more jobs, but people must learn new skills to do them. So, he said, “Economics teaches you about what’s going on in the world, and that’s why I love it.”

Praising Clement’s teaching, Cho said, “He makes economics awesome. He’s affable and charismatic, so you want to listen to him. He uses real-life stories you can relate to and breaks things down so you can understand them. He even uses classroom game simulations to explain economic situations.”

Clement, though, said he has great students, and that’s why Chantilly’s won seven economics state championships since 2003. In addition, he said, “I figured out what kinds of questions the test stressed and didn’t stress.”

He also involves the students in economics outside the classroom. For example, said Clement, “I have a home business, so I point out how what we learn in class is relevant to running your own business.”

At states, said Reid, Chantilly amassed a big lead in the buzzer round. “We seemed more prepared than the other team,” added Estrada. “And when we officially won, it was very satisfying. We’d worked hard, had great teammates and a number-one coach. So when it happened, it felt like we really deserved it.”

“It felt great,” said Kolli. “It was a fun day, and this particular team had never won a state championship before.”

Also thrilled was Cho, who’s Dartmouth-bound to major in economics and computer science or math. His dream goal is to someday manage the economics of a small, developing country.

Regarding states, he said, “It’s a good feeling to win and be the best at something in the state. Not many people get that opportunity.”