Community High School Students <=
/span>
Win 1st Place
in the
Illinois Capitol Challenge
Stock Market Competiti=
on
&=
nbsp; Students
from Community High
School in West Chicago =
were
honored in February with a House Resolution for their 1st Place finish in the =
Stock
Market Game. State Representa=
tives
Mike Fortner and Randy Ramey honored the students at the Illinois House of
Representatives in Springfield=
.
=
; The
winners are students in Don Zabelin’s Con=
sumer
Education class and include: Anna
Lane, Michelle Memoli,
Kelly Nottingham and Samantha SanMiguel, all of=
West Chicago.
&=
nbsp; “The
students proved to be very savvy investors. The game took place during a bear =
market
and the team needed to engage in quite a bit of research to make money in t=
his environment.” Zabelin said.
&=
nbsp; The
Illinois Capitol Challenge is a special competition within The Stock Market
Game™ program, which is provided to Illinois schools by the Illinois Counc=
il on
Economic Education. The Capit=
ol
Challenge competition is funded through a grant from Citigroup Foundation.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In the SMG program, each team of
students is given a hypothetical $100,000 to “invest” over a 10=
-15
week period. Through lessons,
research and hands-on participation in this “real life” simulat=
ion,
students learn about the importance of saving and investing, and gain a bas=
ic
understanding of the investment world.&nbs=
p;
&=
nbsp; “This
competition has provided area students with the real-world learning experie=
nce
of how to invest and learn more about how the economy functions,” For=
tner
said. “I am proud of the students who participated in this task and I=
am
hopeful they will be able to benefit from this learning experience in the
future.”
&=
nbsp; During
the fall semester, the 1st
Place winning team of students, under
teacher/advisor Don Zabelin, managed their hypothetical portfolio of $100,0=
00
to $103,433 of equity value. =
While
this was a small increase in absolute value, their portfolio’s
performance was 34.6% above that of the S&P 500 - an impressive
accomplishment over the course of the program in this challenging market!
&=
nbsp; “These
students should be commended for their hard work and involvement in such a
unique learning tool,” Ramey said. “I am impressed with the stu=
dents’
capability to learn from events taking place outside the classroom.”<=
/p>