Gary Grimes	- Download MP3-

A team from Chattanooga Christian School earned more than $21,000 during 10 weeks of playing the stock market in a semi-annual game to win first place.

Teams from Chattanooga Christian swept the senior division this year by taking first, second and third places.

The game, administered by the Center for Economic Education at Middle Tennessee State University and sponsored by the Chattanooga Time Free Press and First Tennessee Bank, consists of about 150 to 200 high school, middle and elementary school teams competing to see who can do the most with a virtual bank roll of $100,000.

Gary Grimes, Newspapers In Education coordinator at the Time Free Press, said the game is an excellent way to teach students about the economy.

“The goal is not to teach them the ins and outs of the stock market but to help them understand how events can help the market or how the stock market can affect the economy,” he said.

Maria Edlin, assistant director of the MTSU center and state coordinator for the game in Tennessee, said the game is an excellent educational tool for students.

“I think the program can help coordinate real world experiences into what they are learning in the classroom,” she said.

Local teams compete in a 14-county area that mirrors the Times Free press distribution area, Ms. Edlin said. More than 1,500 teams and almost 8,000 students participated statewide.

During the 10-week game, each team begins with $100,000 and must purchase at least five stocks within the first five weeks and spend at least $5,000 per stock.

Mr. Grimes said some teams chose stocks because the market initials match their boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s initials. Some go to the mall and watch how many shoppers enter certain stores, while other teams simply research companies they are interested in purchasing stock from.

“It is interesting how they pick their stocks,” he said. “The thinking behind a lot of this stuff is very mature.”