The kids are the future.
What I learned leading the Stock Market Game for the second time.
This was my second year leading the Stock Market Game with the Philadelphia Chapter of 100 Black Men. We made huge strides this year across the board.
What is the Stock Market Game?
The SIFMA Foundation, affiliated with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, runs an initiative known as the Stock Market Game. This educational tool is designed for students from 4th to 12th grade to gain investment and personal finance knowledge. Each student is given a fictitious brokerage account that tracks the real market with USD 100,000 in fake money to invest. At the end of the program, the stock performers go to the national conference to compete in person. This program educates millions of children across the country.
We doubled down on digital outreach. We sent reminders by email, text, and word of mouth. We gave notice and reminders which I enjoyed for mutual accountability.
We had about 50 students across middle and high schoolers. This tripled Year over year. The level of engagement was higher by a long shot. We sat back and organized the small details a lot further this go round.
We 4x the number of teachers for the program. I was the lead in the high schoolers and I can say I truly enjoyed those sessions. We discussed topics across the board:
What is a short squeeze
How to reach a mutual/ETF prospectus
Market operating dates
How to open a brokerage account
Fees
Podcast, YouTube, and media outlets to continue to research
This is a great way to pay it forward twofold. When I grew up, I participated in DAPCEP in Detroit and people volunteered their time to give us a chance. How could I not? Also, Philadelphia has been such a great hostess to me and at a minimum, I owe a few Saturdays in return.
This year I felt we could hold space where the students could ask questions freely without embarrassment.
I can't wait to see how these young students grow with this added knowledge.