Butler County Stock Market Game Competition Nets #1 Team in Pennsylvania.

EVANS CITY, Pa. -- Kittanning Junior High School teacher James Paul spent 10 weeks challenging his seventh grade team as they invested a hypothetical $100,000 in the stock market.

And the challenge paid big dividends - to the tune of $224,633 - and earned his team first and second place in the seventh-eighth grade category in Pennsylvania in the Spring 2008 Stock Market Game. This group, among many others, represented a local program of the NexTier Center for Economic Education at Butler County Community College (BC3). Their win was big considering they competed against 21,763 students, 505 schools, 6,985 teams and 728 advisors in the state.

Mr. Paul's students bought, sold, short sold and short covered on the American, New York and NASDAQ markets. #1 winning team members are Kristeena Radaker, Lauren Tarr, Hannah Krukar, Melissa Smith, and Nicole Eckman.

NexTier Bank has sponsored the Stock Market Games for three years through a partnership with EconomicsPennsylvania. The Center at BC3 provides leadership in economic education programs and initiatives for teachers and students in grades kindergarten through 12. Its focus is the Butler region, which includes Butler, Armstrong, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

"We are pleased to sponsor such programs that underscore our commitment to extending the reach of financial and economic literacy in the communities that we serve," said Margaret Irvine Weir, NexTier Bank President. Dan Crawford, Chief Investment Officer from NexTier Wealth Management, kicks off the teacher training for the Stock Market game each semester.

NexTier Bank is an innovative, full-service financial institution that focuses on superior customer service and expert business solutions. NexTier's 16 community offices serve Butler, Armstrong, and northern Allegheny counties, as well as Radnor, PA. NexTier has $500 million in assets and 300 employees. NexTier, Inc. includes NexTier Bank, NexTier Insurance Services, The Family Business Center at NexTier, NexTier Wealth Management, NexTier Mortgage, NexTier Armored Services, and Radnor Trust Company. Information about NexTier and its business lines is available at thebank.com, or by calling 1.800.262.1088.

EconomicsPennsylvania, headquartered in Snyder County, is the single largest not-for-profit economic education and financial literacy organization in the Commonwealth. Its mission is to promote and encourage understanding of economic and financial concepts through education. Through a statewide network of 14 Centers for Economic/Financial Literacy Education, thousands of teachers receive professional training in economic content and effective teaching methods. EconomicsPennsylvania constructs comprehensive curricula for public, private and parochial schools in cooperation with school administrators and faculty.

Award-winning materials, which are developed and published by EconomicsPennsylvania, the National Council on Economic Education, and creative educators, are made available, free of cost, to teachers and students through the generosity of corporate, foundation and individual sponsorships. Additional information may be obtained by visiting www.EconomicsPA.org or calling 570/372-9997.

Member FDIC