Bismarck, ND - Students from Wachter Middle School and Century High School, both of Bismarck, have won the Middle School and High School competitions in North Dakota for the Fall Stock Market Game. The teams receiving second place honors were from Glenburn High School and Jim Hill Middle School, Minot. There were 900 teams and 3,000 students participating in the fall competition.
Members of the winning team in the Middle School division competition are Jacob Haugen, Josh James and Justin Nagel of Wachter Middle School. Their teacher-advisor is Del Kost. Winning the High School division competition from Century High School is David Lannoye and Chris Pendergast. Their teacher-advisors for the game are Vanessa Decoteau and Tonya Parham.
The Stock Market Game (SMG) is a ten-week simulation of Wall Street trading that provides a framework for teaching students in grades 4-12 about the American economic system. Offered in the fall and spring semesters, SMG is available through the Internet and is designed for classroom use as a motivational tool to increase understanding of the stock market, the costs and benefits involved in economic decision-making, the sources and use of capital and other related economic concepts, said Diane Kambeitz, Coordinator of the North Dakota game from the North Dakota Securities Department.
SMG is an interdisciplinary teaching tool that allows teachers to create and direct learning in the classroom in a variety of disciplines. During the ten-week session, student teams invest a hypothetical $100,000 in common stocks on the New York and American stock exchanges and the NASDAQ Stock Market. Teams enter their transactions and monitor daily their portfolios including trades, current holdings, brokerage fees, margin interest and team ranking. At the end of the ten-week simulation, the winning teams in the elementary, middle school and high school competitions achieving the largest investment gains are recognized. Winning teams in the this competition increased their portfolio by as much as $85,000.
SMG is a free resource to North Dakota schools coordinated through the North Dakota Securities Department through their Investor Education program. The Stock Market Game was created and is provided by the Securities Industry Foundation for Economic Education, an affiliate of the Securities Industry Association and is offered in all 50 states.
SMG is an opportunity for students to not only learn about the market and how it affects our economy, but also to think about wise investing and saving for their financial futures, stated Kambeitz.
The spring game officially began on January 13, 2003 and will be the first game to be played for 15 weeks. It is available at no cost to all North Dakota teachers and students in grades 4-12.
For more information on SMG, contact the North Dakota Securities Department at 1-800-297-5124 (local 328-2910) or visit the SMG website at www.smgww.org.