Each fall, the Florida Council on Economic Education, sponsored by State Farm and Raymond James Financial, challenges students in elementary, middle, and high school to a “stock market challenge.” The challenge is an online trading game that offers lifelong lessons in investing, but it also teaches team building, communication, and research skills. A group of students in Julia Landon’s Investigative Technology class, facilitated by Ms. Kristie Putnal, were announced as the winning team for the Fall 2010 Florida Stock Market Challenge. The winning team was comprised of three students, Dylan Attlesey, Noah Crawford, and Justin Lumbag. The contest provided a forum for student clubs to compete against other student clubs statewide.
Team members took an immediate interest in the stock market – they had to gather information on a particular set of stocks – and in this case, the students made the decision to invest in Apple Inc., (AAPL) and Compañía de Bebidas das Americas, also known as AmBev (ABVC). The investment group worked in a democratic fashion where in the members, as a collective, delegated a stock scout, a stock researcher, and a CEO. They also voted on stocks that they wished to purchase, how many they wanted to buy, and whether or not they wanted to sell. Members took the interest rate into account and decided whether or not it was conducive for a comfortable amount of growth. According to Dylan Attlesey, “We didn’t have a specific plan in mind. Justin found the stocks and showed them to us. I would decide whether we actually bought them. Noah was a loose cannon. He wanted to buy everything! His random spurts of genius actually helped us a lot, and a lot of it was luck!” Their rationale to choose AmBev was based on the idea that current research indicated a greater number of people drinking canned beverages. They decided that the company with “the most expensive and strong beverage on Earth” was, in their opinion a “good stock.” That company happened to be AmBev. The Apple stocks were expensive, “but they had been steadily rising for the last few years, and the Apple TV had just been released.” “We bought low and sold high!” Overall, the initial seed money of $100,000 earned their portfolio $14,000, a 13% return on their investment over two and a half months.
The Florida Stock Market Challenge is easy to integrate into a variety of subject areas and align with the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. The SMC is completely free to participate and as winners of the Fall 2010 challenge, Julia Landon College Prep received a check for $100 and $50 for the Investigative Technology class to have a pizza party. Not a bad return on their investment!