By Derek Mikus/Gator Galaxy Staff
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, 230 high school students from around the state gathered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Innovation Campus to take part in a stock market competition. The challenge was set up to imitate what it’s like to be on the trade floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Each team consisted of three to four members, all working together to make the most money. Each team started with $1 million and had a list of stocks they could invest in. There were 60 days of trading with each day consisting of only 90 seconds. It made for good competition, because teams had to work fast to get their trades in for each day.
Senior Trevor Marreell said, “It was a great experience that really got me more interested in the stock market. It made me feel like Jordan Belfort. If I were a junior, it is definitely something I would want to do again next year.”
North Star brought eight different teams to the event. Business teachers Mrs. Avey and Mrs. Quible headed the event for North Star and were in charge of recruiting kids to go. Avey thought the event “was really fun. I enjoyed watching the students engagement in the activity.” It was the first time they had ever brought students to the event.
Out of 56 different teams, all eight North Star teams finished around the middle. Three of them finished in 24, 25, and 26th place. The best team finished in 19th. Senior Addi Hillman, who was a member of the 19th team said, “I’m so happy we finished first out of all the North Star kids.” The team who took home the trophy was a team from Waverly who won with a total of $3.1 million in earnings.
Overall, it was a great experience for students who are interested in investing. It gave them a glimse of what it would be like to work on Wall Street.
