Win/lose in stock market game

Students at Black Butte School recently won a statewide competition in an educational resource called The Stock Market Game. Given a fictional $100,000 stake, the students won by having lost the least in the eight weeks they played the market, ending up with $96,741. In the process, they learned lessons in math, economics, world and domestic markets, writing, and the value of research. And how easy it is to lose money in the stock market.

Teacher Erin Conway enrolled her fourth- through eighth-grade students in the game back in the fall.

"School board member Dean Potter told me about it," said Conway.

He'd taught the game, which has been available as a resource since 1977, when he was teaching.

The class was divided into two teams: fourth- and fifth-graders and seventh- and eighth-graders. The fourth- and fifth-grade students were the eventual state winners.

Seventh-grader McKenzie Banks was also a state winner for an essay she wrote related to the stock market. The InvestWrite competition allows students who are participating in the Stock Market Game to reinforce their knowledge and hone critical thinking skills.

Her essay explored the factors affecting the stock market and how it effects the rest of the economy. She picked a corporation - Proctor and Gamble - and researched its companies to find answers.

"I didn't know anything about the stock market before we started the game," she said. "It's helped me understand (how it works) and will help me manage myself financially later on."

Banks isn't too sure that she's ready to plunge into investing, even though she's received some stock as a birthday present.

"I'm a bit nervous about investing. I know how easy it is to lose it," she said.

The entire experience "gives relevance to what they're learning," said Conway. It puts economic issues into a scale that students can understand. Plus, she added, they like the competition.