On Wednesday, March 9, Congressman Paul Tonko paid a visit to Bethlehem Central High School to meet students participating in the 2016 SIFMA Foundation’s Capitol Hill Challenge (CHC), an offshoot of a student-based investment challenge known as The Stock Market Game™. The school’s Stock Market Club is taking part in the national 14-week financial education competition which organizes teams of middle and high school students by congressional and senatorial district and teaches them about saving, investing, and government.
The club’s advisor is teacher Jason Majewski, who has been helping Bethlehem students hone their financial skills in the real-time investment contest every year since 2004.
Rep. Tonko met with Majewski and the five student teams who are investing a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learning about the capital markets as they go. Teams from across the country work to maximize the return of their portfolios over the course of the competition. The teams to finish in the top 10 will be recognized at an awards reception in Washington, D.C. in June.
“The most important goal is to always provide real world application of what is taught in the classroom. The Stock Market Game allows the students to participate in a hands on simulated experience of what has become a necessary life skill. The level of student enthusiasm and appreciation of the financial world is very impressive,” said BCHS teacher Jason Majewski.
The Stock Market Club meets once a week after school in Mr. Majewski’s classroom. The club’s members were excited to welcome the congressman to their meeting.
Majewski said much of the strategizing and investment decisions are made by the teams in the students’ spare time and meetings are dedicated to learning something new every day. When the club meets, he said, the meetings usually begin with an exercise designed to help students understand the fundamentals of investing and how the markets work.
During Congressman Tonko’s visit, Mr. Majewski began the meeting with a graph showing that the market for consumer staples had been widely outperforming the S & P 500 over the last year and he asked the students to give him some examples of consumer staples and companies that sell them. It wasn’t long before a surprisingly sophisticated discussion was underway.
“Proctor and Gamble is one,” said senior Erik Bidstrup. “Though it is such a large company, it is almost a quasi-index of the market.
“The company’s holdings are spread so wide, it is basically going to perform on par with the market.”
Investing and social responsibility
Fellow senior Jacob Rosenberg offered Philip Morris as an example of a consumer staples company that has been performing well. Known mostly for manufacturing cigarettes, the company’s mention prompted a discussion among the students and the adults about smoking trends in the U.S. and internationally and about social responsibility in investing.
“It is not always just about a company’s financials,” said Congressman Tonko. “Be sure to extend your thoughts and your analysis to consider companies that support social and economic justice and companies that are embracing human rights.”
Sophomore Alyx Trulsen used Estee Lauder as an example of a consumer goods company that takes corporate responsibility seriously.
“They don’t test their products on animals,” said Trulsen. “A lot of people want to know where the products they use are coming from.”
Tonko listened as the students discussed other consumer staples companies including Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, CVS Health, Hormel Foods and two of Mr. Majewski’s favorites, Starbucks and Wegmans.
“I worked at both,” said Mr. Majewski. “I’m sure the students may get sick of it, but I can’t help using them when we are having some of these discussions.
“And I just think Wegmans is a really good company,” he said.
Congressman Tonko spent time listening to the club’s discussion and inquired about some of the seniors’ plans for the future. He was delighted to learn that despite the group’s obvious interest in finance, several students in the room are planning to pursue engineering in college.
“I studied mechanical engineering,” said Rep. Tonko. “And I can tell you our country is woefully under-producing engineers so I am encouraged to hear this.”
The members of the BC Stock Market Club presented the congressman with a parting gift: a list of the students’ top stock market picks.
Congressman Tonko returned the favor by leaving them with a bit of advice.
“I would encourage you to invest in yourselves,” he said. “Get to know what your skills, motivations and passions are and let those guide you forward.”
Follow the BC teams’ progress
“The SIFMA Foundation’s annual challenge makes financial literacy fun for middle and high school students – and gives the Capital Region yet another opportunity to show off the bright minds in our community,” said Tonko, who was accompanied during his visit by David Saalfrank, a SIFMA representative from Raymond James Financial Services in Saratoga. “I look forward to seeing how BCHS fares in this national competition, and I thank Mr. Majewski for providing this opportunity to his students.”
The foundation — created by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association — is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds, with a focus on youth. Since it began in 1977, the SIFMA Foundation’s curriculum-based Stock Market Game™ has helped nearly 16 million students gain a better understanding of the global economy, become college and career ready, and improve their knowledge of math, economics, and business. The program is proven to raise student scores on tests of mathematics, economics and financial knowledge.
Learn more about The Stock Market Game or follow the weekly progress of all teams taking part in the 2016 Capitol Hill Challenge.