Students from North High School in Downers Grove won first place and students from South High won third place in the Illinois Northwest Suburban Spring 2023 session of The Stock Market Game program. In the contest, students are given a hypothetical $100,000 in capital to buy, sell and trade for approximately three months; the teams competed against over 500 other teams across Illinois.
North High First Place Winners (L-R): Tyler Schumacher, Jake Solecki, William Murphy, and Everett McDonald with North High teacher Tom Saam
The first place team at North High was led by economics teacher Tom Saam; members included Tyler Schumacher, Jake Solecki, William Murphy and Everett McDonald. The team earned first place by investing long in a variety of companies, including Apple and Dover Corporation. The team saw gains by selling short several companies, including Bed, Bath, and Beyond and First Republic Bank. The team finished with $131,609.77 in its portfolio.
“Students manage their funds by researching market trends as well as company and industry news,” Saam said. “The exercise is a fun way for students to learn personal financial literacy skills.”
South High Third Place Winners (L-R): South High economics teacher Elaine Marinakos with Jake Justus and Robert Vong
South High’s team members included Jake Justus and Robert Vong, led by economics teacher Elaine Marinakos. The team invested in companies including Google, Tesla, and First Republic Bank and finished with $125,439 in the portfolio.
“We teach lessons on the stock market as an investment strategy and our students apply their learning to research stock and make the best transactions possible,” Marinakos said. “This was especially challenging this semester as the stock market was facing a down-turn and the students needed to adjust their strategy.”
District 99 teams have scored high in past competitions as well: In 2018, two South High teams earned first and third places and North High earned sixth place.
The Stock Market Game is an online education program used in thousands of classrooms nationwide. It helps teach core subjects like math, social studies, technology, business, economics and language skills in a real-world setting while emphasizing the importance of long-term saving and investing. See www.stockmarketgame.org and www.econillinois.org for details about the program.
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