Area students compete in mock stock market competition
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Do today’s students have what it takes to succeed on Wall Street? Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts (JAWM) thinks so. The organization will turn the Cedars Banquet Facility, 375 Island Pond Road, Springfield, into a mock New York Stock Exchange for the largest single-day student Stock Market Competition in North America. This year’s annual event, which was virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic, will be held on Friday, November 12, 2021, from 9:00am–10:30am both in person and virtually. The evening portion of the event, in which local business sponsors compete, will be held from 6:00pm–8:30 p.m.
“We love providing this exciting and challenging experience for students to get a real-world feel for what Wall Street is like,” said Jennifer A. Connolly, president. “The students become so engaged in this event and it is such a pleasure to see how much they are learning while having fun during the competition. It is inspiring to see the next generation so empowered by the decisions they get to make during the event. It will be great to be back in person with some of the students and our sponsors this year.”
During the simulation event, approximately 60 participating middle and high school students in person and a hundred virtually form teams that are each “given” $1,000,000 to invest in more than 50 fictitious stocks. With trading days lasting just 60 seconds, the goal is to build the highest portfolio net worth in a frantic 60 “days.” At the end of the event, students leave with a sense of how the stock market works and valuable insight into the importance of teamwork and how to become financially savvy. To help follow COVID-19 guidelines, there will be food trucks for lunch and it will be suggested that all participants wear a mask.
For the evening corporate challenge, sponsoring businesses are encouraged to create their own teams and the same rules apply. This year’s Stock Market Competition sponsors include St. Germain Investment Management, Event Sponsor; Savage Arms and Balise, Platinum Sponsors; Peoples Bank and Country Bank, Gold Sponsors; Webster Bank, Portfolio Sponsor; and TD Bank, Trader Sponsor. Elms College is the Education Sponsor. Silver Sponsors include Polish National Credit Union, Westfield Gas & Electric, Monson Savings Bank, Easthampton Savings Bank, and Westfield Bank. Bronze Sponsors include Bay Path University, MMWEC, Excel Dryer, and The Collins Companies. Table Sponsors include Quabbin Wire & Cable, Florence Bank, Wolf & Company, and Freedom Credit Union.
JAWM is dedicated to providing economic education and financial literacy programs to the youth of western Massachusetts and Vermont, opening their minds to their potential and preparing them for life after graduation. Events such as the Stock Market Competition simulation help students develop workforce readiness and entrepreneurial skills that will prepare them for a self-sustaining future.
To learn more about the event, visit jawm.org or call 413-747-7670.
About Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts
Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts was founded in Springfield, MA in 1919 and is the birthplace of JA. Today more than 13,000 students in grades K–12 in Western MA participate in JA programs annually. For more information, visit jawm.org