Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Hannah Erickson can rattle off several statistics about identify theft.

She said it affects 19 Americans every minute. It can take awhile for someone to realize his or her identity has been stolen. The theft can happen to anyone at any time.

Erickson, a senior at Steamboat Springs High School, learned the statistics while she and classmates Monica Patten and Miranda Salky shot and produced an educational video about the topic.

“I didn’t really know the extent of it until we worked on this project,” Erickson said Thursday. “It makes me want to be more cautious.”

On Wednesday, the students’ video won first place in the second annual Steamboat Video Challenge, which had students team up with local bankers to produce videos about personal finance. The event was put on by the Routt County Extension Office, New Frontiers for Girls and Women, Alpine Bank, Bank of the West, First National Bank of the Rockies, Millennium Bank, Mountain Valley Bank, Vectra Bank, Wells Fargo Bank and Yampa Valley Bank.

“April is financial literacy month, so it’s a nice time to get these students thinking about guarding their personal identity and their finances,” Extension agent Karen Massey said. “Kids get a chance to delve into things they really need to know.”

Each bank had a coach who worked with five teams of about four high school students who produced the videos on topics ranging from budgeting to credit card applications. On Wednesday, all juniors and seniors at the high school watched the videos.

“It’s really fun to see these kids get engaged and excited about this,” Alpine Bank President Adonna Allen said. “It’s unusual to have all of the banks (in Steamboat) be a part of the same event. We all have the same goal to increase education and financial literacy.”

Erickson and her team won $450 for their winning video.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com