Mount Vernon Leadership Academy students receive CTE Stock Market Challenge Trophy

Ring the bell!

A group of budding entrepreneurs at the Mount Vernon Leadership Academy was presented with the first-ever CTE Stock Market Challenge Trophy on Thursday after the eighth graders saw their virtual stocks soar.

Teacher T. Yvette Wright beamed as CTE Director Brian Simmons presented Principal Dr. Colleen Seivright-Crawford with the coveted prize after the students in the Career and Financial Management class were treated to pizza.

For the first time ever, middle and high schools across the District competed to invest in virtual stock portfolios – and MVLA took top honors.

“The CTE department could not be more excited to bring financial literacy to the district,” Simmons said. “This award demonstrates how far these excellent students at Mount Vernon Leadership have traveled in just a few short months.”

“At a time when the stock market has had record turbulence, these students have made their own history by representing Mount Vernon Leadership Academy as the first recipients of the CTE Stock Market Challenge Award,” Simmons added.

The students were divided into four groups and assigned specific roles in managing the faux $100,000 portfolio as part of the competition on stockmarketgame.org, which is sponsored by NASDAQ and featured real stocks available on the New York City-based exchange.

The students said the competition was not only fun but also prepared them for life.

“Some takeaways I got is how to work well with my classmates and how to focus on getting better, start and do more research,” student Skylar Ellis said. “My favorite part was just buying the stocks and doing the research, because we got to learn more things about the different companies and stocks for the market.”

Skylar said that diving into the world of stocks made him expand his comfort zone.

“People should take joy in doing things that might feel weird or uncomfortable. They might have a great experience like I did. At first I was a little nervous, a little intimidated with, like, the stocks and everything.”

Another student, Raissa Santiago, gushed that she was chosen to lead her group, which was tops in the class.

“I made the financial decisions. We checked every day how the stocks were doing on the leaderboard,” she said, referring to how they kept tabs on how their competitors across the District were managing their stocks, mutual funds and bonds.

Two fellow group members, Alvin Bencosme and Dylan Garcia, said they learned how to gauge the volatility of the markets based on current events and postings on social media.
“One of the core areas of capitalism is competition,” Dylan said.

Added Alvin: “You don’t get much if you don’t take risks.”

Simmons addressed the proud class before unveiling the trophy and presenting it to Dr. Crawford and Ms. Wright.

“This is an example when learning comes to life,” Simmons said. “This award is special because it is the first time anyone has ever done this. The intention is that this award will travel year to year from school to school much like the Stanley Cup in hockey.”

Students began the competition in January after Career and Financial Management teachers met in a professional learning community (PLC) every month.