A team of students from Brinley Middle School in North Las Vegas has captured top statewide honors in the spring 2001 Nevada Stock Market Simulation Game.
Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller, whose office cosponsors the game, will present prizes and awards to the winners on May 22 during a program at the school.
The winning team, under the guidance of teacher Kim Hardgrove, won statewide honors by turning $100,000 in hypothetical start-up money into $203,048 in just 10 weeks.
Other students in Hardgrove's classes also performed exceptionally well in the competition; teams from her classes won six of the top seven places statewide. One of her teams also secured nineteenth place. The only place in the top seven not captured by one of Hardgrove's teams was second place, which went to an Eldorado High School team coached by teacher Keith Skroback. That Eldorado team amassed a hypothetical $162,191.
Students in classrooms throughout Nevada participate in the game, which is conducted on the Internet and is designed to teach students about economics, finance, and math.
Each team had 10 weeks to buy and sell its hypothetical stocks in an attempt to maximize its portfolio. Teams were charged commission on all transactions. The teams had the ability to use margin, but were charged interest if they engaged in that leveraging activity.
In the most recent competition, the top five finishers in all three categories - elementary, middle, and high school - were from Clark County.
The top five winners in the elementary division were from the following schools:
-- First place. A team from Bonnie Pillaro's class at Lummis.
-- Second and third places. Teams from Peggie Williams' classes at Bendorf.
-- Fourth place. A team from Robin Borden's class at Martha P. King.
-- Fifth place. A team from Williams' class at Bendorf.
All five winners in the middle school division were from Hardgrove's classes at Brinley.
The top finishers in the high school division were:
-- First place. The Eldorado team from Skroback's class.
-- Second and third places. Teams from Tresa Harrell's classes at Horizon South.
-- Fourth place. A team from Robert Bloom's class at Chaparral.
-- Fifth place. A team from Tracy Brunelle's class at Bishop Gorman.
The Nevada Council on Economic Education cosponsors the stock market game in partnership with the secretary of state's office for students in grades five through 12. It is administered by the Barbara Schick Center for Economic Education at UNLV. Heller's office provides funding for team fees from fines it collects from securities fraud violators.
For additional information about the most recent game or about future games, call John Mundy, programs coordinator at the Barbara Schick Center at UNLV, at (702) 895-3608 or E-mail him at jmundy@ccmail.nevada.edu.
