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El Paso Stock Market Games
The Stock Market Game™ Program is a national program of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation. It is offered statewide by the Texas Council on Economic Education (TCEE). The SMG™ is the nation’s first and largest educational investment simulation program. It is widely used in grades 4 through 12 to teach students about investing and personal finance as they apply math, social studies, business, economics, and language skills. Over 15,000 Texas students participated in the SMG in the Spring 2015 session.
Thanks to a generous contribution from FirstLight Federal Credit Union and Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation, students in the El Paso area were invited to participate in the SMG™ Program free of charge. Through their nearly 10 years of sponsorship of the Stock Market Game™ program in the El Paso region, FirstLight Federal Credit Union, with the support of Cornerstone Federal Credit Union Foundation, has made it possible for approximately 6,000 teams, made up of a total of over 24,000 area students learn about investing, the stock market and personal finance.
FirstLight Federal Credit Union and the Texas Council on Economic Education recognized students from six teams from El Paso ISD, Socorro ISD and Fort Hancock ISD that participated in the Spring session of the SMG™ at a dinner on May 13 in El Paso. Awards were be presented to the top six teams. They include:
1st place Teacher: George Rodelo Americas High School Socorro ISD
2nd Place Teacher: Marc Hunter Coronado High School El Paso ISD
3rd Place Teacher: Bill Coons Fort Hancock High School Fort Hancock ISD
4th Place Teacher: Stephen Schlett Chapin High School El Paso ISD
5th Place Teacher: Martin Castro Franklin High School El Paso ISD
6th Place Teacher: Francisco Mejia Chapin High School El Paso ISD
Each team of students is given a hypothetical $100,000 to “invest” in stocks, bonds or mutual funds over a 10-week period in their own online trading account. They research companies and make decisions on where to invest their virtual money. Teams with the greatest increase in the value of their investments are recognized.
An independent study by Learning Point Associates found that students who participate 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 SMG™ reported the program motivated them to better plan for their future and to engage in financial planning, research, and use of investment products and services. The SMG™ has been named the only program that successfully increased scores on the Jumpstart Coalition’s test of high school students’ financial literacy. For more information on TCEE, go to www.economicstexas.org.
(Press Release: Economic Texas SMG)
For more information on how to participate, please contact Debbie Mackey at smg@economicstexas.org.
