On June 8^th, SIFMA and the SIFMA Foundation held an awards ceremony for the New York City winners of the 2011/2012 school year InvestWrite and Stock Market Game competitions designed for 4^th-12^th graders.  The ceremony was heart-warming and showed that the program had made a profound and inspiring impact on the winners’ educational futures. When asked whether or not they were going to continue to check the securities from their portfolios over the summer, there was an exuberant “yes!”

The Stock Market Game is a competition that begins with each team of students having a virtual cash account of $100,000.  Students then strive to create the best-performing portfolio using a live trading simulation. They work together in teams, practicing leadership, organization, negotiation, and cooperation as they compete.  Melanie Mortimer, Executive Director of the SIFMA Foundation, described the game as “a place where students can practice what adults do every day, in a safe environment.” InvestWrite, a teacher-designed writing competition that reinforces the students’ knowledge of investing and hones critical thinking skills, enhances the Stock Market Game through writing.

Sterling Roberson, Vice President of the United Federation of Teachers, gave an inspiring speech to the recipients at the ceremony.   He said that his father always used to tell him, “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t”, and is still living by that motto each and every day.

When the winners received their awards, each student was asked to make a short statement about his or her experience playing the Stock Market Game.   One student in middle school stated that he had to watch his stocks “like a baby”.  He said that he had walked away from his computer for an hour, and his stocks dropped by 18%.  Another group of high school student winners explained that they chose to invest in things that “people need in everyday life,” while still diversifying their portfolios.  They chose to invest in many stocks, everything from Microsoft to Dunkin Donuts. It was obvious that the competitions were something that all of the participants truly enjoyed and learned from.

Please click here to see the full list of New York area winners (pdf).

Melanie Mortimer
Executive Director
SIFMA Foundation