Starting April 6, the economics (econ.) class will be participating in a fictional online stock market, consisting of selling stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other trading items. The project will last for three weeks until the winning team is revealed.
To make the project more interesting, students will be competing in teams of two for 15 points of extra credit, a $10 Starbucks gift card or a $10 Jamba Juice gift card. Econ. teacher Bessalee Mendoza plans to use these incentives to help the students take the competition more seriously, as it relates to workings of the stock market in real life.
“This project will give the students the ability to see how the stock market works and take part in the action,” Mendoza said. “It is the real life application of the material that students have been working on over the past two weeks. It allows the students to put these skills to work in a real life situation. It is a fun, exciting and competitive project.”
Senior Frank Defrancesco has anticipated the project since last year due to its hands-on style.
“Last year I watched the econ. students participate in this project and I thought it looked like a lot of fun,” Defrancesco said. “I am excited to be a part of it this year because it is more of an interactive project rather than just gathering information. We get to apply what we learn to real life and learn from the process.”
According to Mendoza, the great success with the project last year convinced her to continue with it. In addition, its online feature makes it easier to operate and helps students track their fake investments.
“Last year, I even had kids who weren’t in my class participating in the project,” Mendoza said. “It is also nice that it is all done online and in real time so students can see how their choices have panned out and what they next decision should be. The online program keeps track of who is in the lead, how much money each group has and who had the best day. It’s just a fun way for kids to play the market without having to put any real money on the line.”
Despite the fact that it is an assignment, senior Sam Kaiser claims that all teens can benefit from the experience.
“I think it would be something fun to do because it would get you to experience the stock market and you would gain a different perspective than just listening to others talk about it,” Kaiser said. “I think it would be something I might even do on my own just to try it. I have no experience with the stock market so it would give me some knowledge about how to be productive and make money and not lose money.”
For more information on the stock market project, e-mail Mendoza. For more information on the econ. class, visit the Feb. 24 article, Civics and econ teaches life application.