St. Clair Shores Teen Billy Barfour Awarded $20,000 Scholarship In H&R Block Competition

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MI — 18-year-old Billy Balfour of St. Clair Shores was awarded a $20,000 scholarship for his incredible work in the H&R Block Budget Challenge, according to a press release. Barfour has the distinction of being one of five scholarship winners across America for the 2016 fall semester, according to H&R Block.

H&R Block representative Bob Danowski presented the mega check to Balfour in front of his peers and teachers during halftime at St. Clair High School’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 28.

The H&R Block Budget Challenge's motto is 'learn before you earn,' and the idea is to introduce students to the ins and outs of finances while they're in the classroom, so they're better prepared for dealing with real dollars and cents when they're in the real world. In the H&R Block Budget Challenge, students compete against other students and classrooms go up against classrooms by engaging in an arsenal of financial practices including paying bills, allocating money for taxes and budgeting for retirement in an online simulation.

Photo caption: H&R Block representative Bob Danowski presents the $20,000 scholarship to Billy Balfour. Photo courtesy of Ketchum