Gifted Education Services- Pittman, Shoni

September 30, 2011

Dear SAGE Parents and Students,

     Twice every school year the Georgia Stock Market Game is played by gifted and talented students throughout Metro Atlanta.  Fairview Elementary’s gifted students, along with students in the Math Enrichment and the Business Club, grades 4 and 5 will now be participating in this exciting program.  The Georgia Council on Economic Education sponsors the elementary through high school students who play the Stock Market Game each spring and fall semester for ten weeks, starting off with a hypothetical portfolio of $100,000 and researching publicly-traded companies on the internet, reading business publications, and crunching the numbers to select stocks.  There are 35,000 students participating in this program each year.  The team from each school district with the highest portfolio value at the end of ten weeks wins the game.  While participating in the game, students develop a solid understanding of how private enterprise works.  Economic education is not just about financial literacy; it is about the larger economic forces that affect everyone’s financial circumstance.  Unlike real equity markets, the game offers students a safe and pain-free place to learn that the lessons of market economics can sometimes be costly.  The Georgia Council on Economic Education has a FAQ page for students at http://www.gcee.org/stock_market/studentfaq.asp

     Like any educational simulation, the Stock Market Game in Georgia has limitations.  There is no real-time trading, no rapid buying and selling to turn quick profits, and no excessive risk-taking like there is in real equity markets.  Students do their research at the Yahoo finance site http://finance.yahoo.com.  Stocks valued less than $5 cannot be purchased, and rules are in place to emphasize the educational benefits of the game while removing the speculative aspects of equity trading.   For example, one rule requires teams to make their first transactions by the end of the third week, purchase at least three different stocks or mutual funds, and hold at least three of their investments for at least three business weeks (sixteen business days).   The rest of the rules for the game can be found at http://www.gcee.org/stock_market/ForStudents.asp

    The Stock Market Game for Fall will begin on October 3, 2011 and end December 9, 2011.    Spring’s game will begin January 20, 2012 and end April 6, 2012.  Your child’s Team Login information is attached to this letter.  Please allow your child to participate in this exciting and strategy-filled simulation.  It is an experience like no other.

Sincerely,

Connie Frank, SAGE Educator