Melrose Students Participate in Simulated Stock Market Game
In our efforts to bring real-life applications to math, students in grades 6 – 8 are participating on the Connecticut Simulated Stock Market Game (SMS), sponsored by the Danbury News Times. Students compete at the national and state levels. The SMS was designed by Stock-Trak, Inc., a company that produces college level simulation programs used by over 800 professors and approximately 40,000 students worldwide for over 12 years.
Working in teams, students start with $100,000 to invest, and may borrow another $100,000, making a total buying power $200,000, minus commissions. The SMS encourages students to understand the stock market and research companies by using the The Danbury News Times, The Wall Street Journal, the evening news, and the main financial web sites. “The SMS is a wonderful tool for teaching economics, finance, current events, math, social studies, and technology,” commented Adele Dominicus, Math Department Chair, who has been using the simulator for several years. Students can also get investment ideas by looking around their house, the shopping mall, and their school. Teams are encouraged to think about what goods or services they see everyone using and enjoying. “We all know that middle school children are often a good source of what’s in and what’s out, and what’s hot and what’s not,” said Dominicus. The SMS web site offers a research page with links that help in the research of any company, so that teams choose stocks that they really want to trade. “Our students really enjoy the activity and many do quite well. They learn how to take calculated risks and learn the concept of global and national economy. Currently our teams are placing within the top 10 regionally, with two teams placing within the top 50 for Connecticut,” she added.
