Students in Mr. Boyles’s and Mrs. Randall’s Financial Decision Making classes at Shaker High School participated in the Junior Achievement (JA) Stock Market Challenge on May 24 at the SEFCU Arena. There were over 200 students that competed in this challenge across several school districts throughout the Capital Region. Students competed in groups of three to four students. There were two groups of students from Shaker High School with an ending portfolio value that placed them in the Top 10 performing groups:
Ranked #6 with an ROI (return on investment) of 31.63%
- Team Name: Bison Business
- Group Members: Arhant Gupta (grade 10), Daniel Kolodiychik (grade 10), Sorfina Khan (grade 11)
- Ranked #9 with an ROI of 28.28%
- Team Name: Buzzin Bison
- Group Members: Catalina Boutros (grade 11), Lexi Carrington (grade 10) and Julianna Mirabile (grade 11)
The JA Stock Market Challenge provided students with the opportunity to apply the information they learned in class related to investing in stocks and the stock market in a hands-on and high-tech immersive simulation. Each group of students had a virtual $1,000,000 to invest and 35 stocks to choose from. The event was emceed by Ryan Peterson and Christina Arangio from NEWS10 ABC. The local news anchors announced the news that may or may not impact the students’ portfolios and large TV screens projected stock performances and team rankings. Days were simulated in a minute and teams had to work very quickly to make investment decisions based on the news and stock performances. It was very fast paced and exciting, simulating the trading floor of a stock exchange. To prepare for the challenge and support the students classroom learning, professionals in the field of finance engaged with the students on two occasions prior to the event.