A pair of sixth-graders at Jessie Clark Middle School topped the East region field in Kentucky’s early spring edition of The Stock Market Game, which closed out April 24. Amaki Allen and Ben Weathers saw their $100,000 virtual portfolio increase nearly $4,000 or 3.9 percent above the S&P 500 growth. More than 300 teams and some 1,400 students participated in this 10-week statewide competition. As a regional winner, the Jessie Clark team will receive medals at the May 14 awards banquet at Bellarmine University.
“This is the first time I tried The Stock Market Game, and we did it as an after-school club,” said Kathy Howells, who teaches language arts at Jessie Clark. “These two students were the most enthusiastic of the eight who originally signed up, and they checked their portfolio often, other than just on our scheduled club time. Ben and Amaki said they learned a lot about companies that trade on the exchange and the sensitivity of the stock market to events going on in the world, and (they were excited) watching their ‘virtual’ money go up and down.”
The Stock Market Game is a national program of the Foundation for Investor Education and is offered here by the Kentucky Council on Economic Education. This interactive, interdisciplinary program teaches students in grades 4-12 (and college) about economics and finance as teams research companies and invest imaginary money in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Teams are ranked on equity in portfolio.