Washington, DC, May 29, 2019– SIFMA and the SIFMA Foundation today congratulate all the participants of the 16th Annual Capitol Hill Challenge^™ (CHC) national program, supported by the Charles Schwab Foundation, and announce the 10 teams who have won an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC, and who will be recognized at an Awards Reception on June 11 at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

“Congratulations to all the participants of this year’s Capitol Hill Challenge,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO. “For the sixth consecutive year, 100% of Congress participated and SIFMA commends the members of Congress who took the time to visit their local schools and engage with students on financial education.”

This 14-week challenge organizes teams of public middle and high school students by congressional district and state and teaches the importance of saving and investing, while simultaneously promoting a better understanding of our government. Teams invest a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learn the value of the capital markets as they work together to diversify across asset classes and maximize the return of their portfolios.

Since the Capitol Hill Challenge™ began in 2004, the program has reached nearly 125,000 students through some 5,000 matches of U.S. representatives and senators with schools.  Public middle and high school students from all 50 states, Guam and Washington, DC, are participating in this year’s Challenge, which focuses on increasing access for Title 1 schools.

“Since day one, Schwab has been committed to making investing and financial education accessible to everyone,” said Jeff Brown, Senior Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Charles Schwab. “Our support of the Capitol Hill Challenge™ is an extension of our commitment to advocating for more financial literacy programs and to giving people the education and tools they need to take control of their financial futures. We congratulate the winning teams and commend all participating students and their teachers for their commitment to understanding personal finance.”

“Capitol Hill Challenge provides critical educational experiences to young people across America, emphasizing underserved schools and enabling students who otherwise might not be exposed to the capital markets to gain insights that lead to their success,” said Melanie Mortimer, president of the SIFMA Foundation. “Capitol Hill Challenge students experience the positive compounding effect of understanding from an early age how finance, civics and government touch their lives.”

The competition uses the SIFMA Foundation’s curriculum-based Stock Market Game to help students develop a better understanding of the global economy, become college and career ready, and improve their knowledge of math, economics, and business. The program is proven to raise student scores on tests of mathematics, economics and financial knowledge. It is also proven to positively impact students’ and teachers’ personal financial behavior.

Founded in 1977 by academics at Buffalo State, The Stock Market Game has since expanded through a national network of educational nonprofit organizations to reach more than 18 million students. An independent study by Learning Point Associates found that students who participated in the Stock Market Game scored significantly higher on mathematics and financial literacy tests than their peers who did not participate. They also found that teachers who taught the Stock Market Game reported that the program motivated them to better plan for their own financial futures. The Stock Market Game has been named the only program that successfully increased scores on the Jumpstart Coalition’s test of high school students’ financial literacy.

The Capitol Hill Challenge is just one component of the Stock Market Game, which operates in all 50 states. The program has significant benefits including professional development opportunities for teachers, teamwork and confidence building for students, and reinforcement of students’ technology and online research skills (the trading simulation is online). The program improves students’ and teachers’ financial knowledge and behavior and fulfills national standards and state-level subject matter requirements in ELA, Math, Social Studies, Business, Economics, Technology, and Consumer Science.

2019 Capitol Hill Challenge: Top 10 Schools:

1. Milam Elementary School (6^th grade), MS, Trent Kelly
2. Horlick High School, WI, Bryan Steil
3. S&S Middle School, TX, John Ratcliffe
4. Red Hill Jr./Sr. High School, IL, John Shimkus
5. Ocean County Vocational Technical School, NJ, Andrew Kim
6. Lakeview High School, MI, Justin Amash
7. Youth Middle School, GA, Jody Hice
8. Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, HI, Tulsi Gabbard
9. Birdville High School, TX, Kay Granger
10. East Providence High School, RI, David Cicilline

To learn more about the program, visit the SIFMA Foundation’s website: www.sifma.org/chc.

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About SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game^™

SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game is a curriculum-based program where student teams in grades 4-12 learn about the global marketplace and long-term saving and investing fundamentals by using a hypothetical brokerage account. The program serves 15,000 teachers and 600,000 students annually. Teachers receive professional development and grade-level specific curriculum guides, lesson plans and newsletters to incorporate the program into their core mathematics, social studies, business, economics and language arts programs. For more on the Stock Market Game, visit www.stockmarketgame.org.

About the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education

The SIFMA Foundation is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds, with a focus on youth.  Drawing on the involvement and expertise of educators and the financial industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides financial education programs and tools that strengthen economic opportunities across communities and increase individuals’ access to the benefits of the global marketplace. Notable Foundation programs include The Stock Market Game^™, which has served more than 18 million students to become financially prepared for life, the InvestWrite^® national essay competition, the Capitol Hill Challenge^™, and Invest It Forward^®. For more information on the work of the SIFMA Foundation, visit www.sifma.org/foundation.

About SIFMA

SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $20 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.

About Charles Schwab Foundation

Charles Schwab Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation (Charles Schwab). Its mission is to create positive change through financial education, philanthropy, and volunteerism. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com/community. The Charles Schwab Foundation is classified by the IRS as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is neither a part of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) or its affiliates.

About Charles Schwab

At Charles Schwab, we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients’ goals with passion and integrity. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.