Jacob Levine, a fourth-grader at Saddle Rock School, took first place in the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Stock Market Game Year-Long Elementary Competitive Division.
Last fall, Saddle Rock offered an inaugural enrichment course Introduction to the Stock Market that used the SIFMA Stock Market Game as its curriculum. The 10-session class, taught by Evan Chen and Dr. Anthony Iacovelli, met weekly for an hour before school. The class was open to fourth- and fifth-graders, with 20 students participating.
The Stock Market Game is an online simulation of the stock market that enables students to learn about economics, investing and personal finance. Working in groups, students researched different stocks to buy and sell, using $100,000 of virtual money to invest to try to make the greatest profit. Students learned about collaborating and finding consensus in their decisions.
At the conclusion of the course, students could choose to pursue individual virtual buying and selling for the rest of the year. While transactions were done from home computers, teachers were able to monitor them. Dr. Iacovelli said that Jacob made “excellent choices,” enabling him to win.
Based on the students’ positive learning experiences, there are plans to offer Introduction to the Stock Market again in the fall.
