Plainfield Students Take Third in Stock Market Game

Submitted by Plainfield School District 202

Photo 1: Plainfield High School-Central Campus World History and Economics teacher Joseph Zmuda poses with juniors (left) Karli Brown, 17, and Abby Mason, 16, after they took third place in The Stock Market Game. Photo 2: Plainfield High School-Central Campus juniors (from left) Karli Brown, 17, and Abby Mason, 16, received certificates and medals for their third place finish in The Stock Market Game. Brown and Mason were one of 617 teams of ninth through 12th grade students in the region who placed in the fall semester’s contest. Mason and Brown participated in the online portfolio simulation as part of Zmuda’s class.

PLAINFIELD, IL — Looking for investment tips? Try asking Plainfield High School-Central Campus juniors Karli Brown and Abby Mason.

Brown, 17, and Mason, 16, placed third out of 617 teams of ninth through 12th grade students in the region in the fall semester of “The Stock Market Game.”

The pair received medals and certificates for having one of the highest valued investment portfolios of their competitors at the end of the fall semester.

The online portfolio simulation challenged students to research companies, invest in stock, bonds or mutual funds, and follow the investments.

Brown and Mason turned their $100,000 initial investment into $113,000 by investing in high-earning stocks including Netflix and McDonalds.

PHSCC economics and world history teacher Joseph Zmuda has participated in The Stock Market Game for many years.

Zmuda encourages his students to focus on why the stocks are performing well or poorly to determine where they should invest their money, he said.

The Stock Market Game is an educational program of the Illinois Council on Economic Education. The nonprofit organization provides economic education programs for K-12 schools in Illinois.

Econ Illinois was created in Illinois in 1988 to teach students about the world of investments.