Record breaking day for Stock Market Challenge’s winning high school team

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The University at Albany campus welcomed hundreds of high school students Wednesday for Junior Achievement’s annual Stock Market Challenge. The fast paced event puts students in the shoes of day traders to learn about investments and how the financial world works.

Although it was the New York Stock Exchange, the Broadview Center at UAlbany had just as much chaos, intensity and excitement. Nearly 400 students, from eight different schools, made up 99 teams on the trading floor.

“My mom wants me to start investing. I thought I’d learn how to in this class,” explained Shaker junior Heidi Bilger.

Reilly Laven, also a student at Shaker, added, “You want to look at the news and see what’s doing good and bad.”

The students had a little help with staying up to date with NEWS10 ABC’s K.C. Kantz and Trishna Begam delivering the headlines that impacted stock prices.

“That’s part of the process, this immersive experience that the students can really get excited about and get the real world feel about how it works,” said Chris Horne with Junior Achievement.

The nail biting moments leading to a few mistakes, but the quick thinking earned students financial literacy and independence.

“Just make a decision, go with it. If you question yourself, it’s not going to go well,” Bilger said.

Chris Austen, a Business and Finance teacher at Albany High School, said, “The team work, the cooperation, the critical thinking skills they use here are invaluable.”

The competition in the game of numbers was fierce with the winning team, aptly named Stay Winnin’ from Shaker High School, set a record by reporting the highest return on investments the competition has ever seen.