Release Date: May 19, 2015
Contact: Carol Danko, 202.962.7390, [email protected]

SIFMA and the SIFMA Foundation Announce the Top 10 Winners of the 12^th Annual Stock Market Game™ Capitol Hill Challenge and Congratulate all Participants

Top 10 Schools to Travel to Washington, DC for an Awards Reception on Capitol Hill

Washington, DC, May 19, 2015– SIFMA and the SIFMA Foundation today congratulate all the participants of the 12th Annual Stock Market Game™-Capitol Hill Challenge (CHC) national program and announce the 10 winning teams who have won a trip to Washington, DC, and will be recognized at an Awards Reception on Capitol Hill on June17th. 

“Congratulations to all the participants of this year’s Capitol Hill Challenge,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO. “This year 100% of Congress participated and SIFMA gives special recognition to the over 50 members of Congress who took the time to visit their local school and engage with the students on financial education and role of government in our capital markets.”  

This 14-week challenge organizes teams of middle and high school students by congressional district and state and teaches the importance of saving and investing, while simultaneously promoting a better understanding of our government. Teams invest a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learn the value of saving, investing, and the capital markets as they work together to maximize the return of their portfolios.

This year more than 15,000 students from 742 schools participated in this hands-on financial literacy program. A record number of members of Congress visited participating teams at schools in their home districts or states. 

Founded in1977 by academics at Buffalo State, The Stock Market Game has since expanded through a national network of educational nonprofit organizations to reach 15 million students. An independent study by Learning Point Associates found that students who participated in the Stock Market Game scored significantly higher on mathematics and financial literacy tests than their peers who did not participate. They also found that teachers who taught the Stock Market Game reported that the program motivated them to better plan for their own financial futures. The Stock Market Game has been named the only program that successfully increased scores on the Jumpstart Coalition’s test of high school students’ financial literacy. 

 The Capital Hill Challenge is just one component of the Stock Market Game, which operates in all 50 states, serving upwards of half-a-million students each year. The program has significant benefits including professional development opportunities for teachers, teamwork and confidence building for students, reinforcement of student technology and online research skills (the trading simulation is online). The program improves students’ and teachers’ financial knowledge and behavior and fulfills national standards and state-level subject matter requirements in ELA, Math, Social Studies, Business, Economics, Technology, and Consumer Science. 

Top 10 winning teams are as follows:

	Equity	School	State	Member of Congress
1	$184,338.77	Canyonville Christian Academy	OR	Rep. Peter DeFazio
2	$165,477.52	Academy of Information Tech & Eng.	CT	Rep. Jim Himes
3	$158,323.87	The Westminster School	GA	Rep. Barry Loudermilk
4	$158,252.65	Passaic Valley High School	NJ	Rep. Rodney Freylinghuysen
5	$149,461.84	Highland School of Technology	NC	Senator Thom Tillis
6	$141,966.11	Cedar Ridge High School	TX	Rep. John Carter
7	$139,876.45	Arkansas Baptist High School	AR	Rep. French Hill
8	$139,653.06	Brookville High School	VA	Senator Tim Kaine
9	$138,088.70	Carmel High School	IN	Rep. Susan Brooks
10	$134,998.31	Parkview High School	GA	Rep. Hank Johnson Jr.

To view the final rankings for the 2015 competition and to learn more about the Awards Reception, visit the SIFMA Foundation’s website: www.sifma.org/chc.