Best of the Week 2019-2020: Teaching to the Future
EDSMEN PLACE IN TOP 5 IN STOCK MARKET CHALLENGE THROUGH ASHLAND UNIVERSITY
Congratulations to our Edsmen who placed in the Top 5 out of almost 500 teams from various schools in northeast Ohio at this spring's Stock Market Challenge through Ashland University. Hunter Wagner '20, Mike Lombardo '20, Gavin Tarler '20 and Brian Keefe '20 placed in fourth with a 44% return on their original investment while Fitzpatrick Metzger '20, Mike Bubna '20 and Kazuo Coaguila '20 placed fifth with a 36% return. A belated congratulations also goes to Michael Kane '21, Colin Wojciechowski '21and Miles Maupin '20 who placed fourth during the fall stock market challenge. This opportunity was an extension from students' Economics classes, learning concepts about the stock market, specifically the history of the market from Social Studies teacher Mr. Matthew Levindofske (Coach Lev), and the stock market strategies and expertise from Director of Entrepreneurial Solutions and Entrepreneurship teacher Mr. Bob Schenosky. "Given the volatility of the stock market in the last couple of months, our students' results are very impressive," says Coach Lev.
Through this five-month challenge, students actively bought and sold stocks via a simulation based on the real time of the market and the economic news which sparks the market's responses. Teams used their knowledge of microeconomics (behavior of firms) and macroeconomics (policies and economic events) to orchestrate their decisions. "The relevance is significant in understanding how firms create capital to help generate economic activity in the form of production, jobs, and technology," says Coach Lev. "It's also relevant in understanding the long-standing, capitalist tradition of how individuals and households invest, thus creating income for either current expenses or retirement portfolios." After studying the market on a daily basis and being granted $100,000 to start in an original account, students attempted to make the highest rate of return. "We learned that supply and demand shift based on more than just the consumer, and that the inputs that go into goods affect the price of a product, and so does the price of labor and government restrictions. These concepts really helped us when making decisions in the simulation," says Fitzpatrick Metzger '20. "Once the coronavirus started to hit, we began experimenting with biomedical companies such as Co-Diagnostics, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Moderna. After much research, we based our choices off of what was happening in the world around us, since the simulation followed the real stock market, and our gambles paid off. We continued choosing Biomedical companies and even added in Blue Apron and saw us peak at 75%, with many of our stocks receiving over 100% return on investment."
"Our team's communication was key in collectively making decisions and keeping on the same train of thought," says Michael Bubna '20. "Staying up to date with the news and everything that's going on in the world helped us stay relevant in our decision-making. This challenge was the closest thing to actually investing in the real stock market and helped us all feel equipped with knowledge and real experience to set a great foundation for future investing opportunities. This experience has really inspired me to consider a future career in the stock market."
"Through this experience, our students have become better educated on how the stock market incentivizes individuals and firms to act and have even been inspired to pursue future careers in economics," says Coach Lev. "If our students decide to follow a career path and help others build wealth via investments, this would most likely lead to growth in income and the overall economy, which would result in more private charitable works and continued public policies that assist those that are in the greatest need. One of the most important aspects of what we teach our students is the ability and noble cause of giving back."
