Published: July 02, 2009 01:45 pm      

Students learn real-world financial lessons

Not everyone is making money in the stock market these days. But that’s what students at Brookwood Elementary School would have done, if it was real money. They are the winners of the spring Stock Market Game for Dalton city schools.

The Brookwood Elementary School team, advised by teacher Celeste Martin and made up of students Gaby Duchesne, Dana Crane and Megan Yarbrough, took their hypothetical start-up investment of $100,000 and in 10 weeks turned it into a portfolio with a value of $130,821. The game teaches young Georgians real lessons without the financial pain many adult investors are feeling these days.

North Whitfield Middle School won the contest among Whitfield County schools. The team, advised by teacher Katie Sloan and made up of students DeAnna Tallent, Coral Botello, Jada Smith and Taylor Hadden, took their hypothetical investment of $100,000 and turned it into a portfolio with a value of $121,790.

The winning team in Murray County was Spring Place Elementary School with $128,157, taught by Angie Powell.

Teams of up to five students use the math and language skills they’ve learned to research publicly-traded companies on the Internet, read business news and crunch numbers to invest in stocks. One winning team is selected from each public school district, or geographic region in the case of independent schools.

To learn more, visit the Georgia Council on Economic Education Web site at www.gcee.org.