STORIES GO HERE##################--> McIntosh

students show economic IQ

When the Dow broke

10,000 in March, adult investors weren't the only ones

happy. Local students playing the Stock Market Game were

pretty excited too.

Students at

McIntosh High School have won the Georgia Council on

Economics Stock Market Game for the Fayette County

schools in the Internet category. After starting with a

hypothetical investment of $100,000, they finished the

10-week game with a portfolio valued at $309,214.

Teacher

Diane Basham advised team captain Jessica Shelton and

members Paul Ervin, Sarah Long and Lyla Nelson during the

game this spring.

Every

spring and fall, student teams compete in two Stock

Market Game categories, Internet and paper.

Students

playing the Internet edition trade online, while students

playing the paper version mail in trading forms.

Each year,

more than 40,000 students from public and private

elementary, middle and high schools compete in Georgia's

Stock Market Game, the second largest in the nation. Over

a half million Georgia students have competed since 1980.

State

school superintendent Linda Schrenko lauded the winning

teams at the annual Stock Market Game Awards luncheon in

Atlanta.

The May

awards ceremony was the "largest gathering of

students in the state for the purpose of recognizing

academic achievement," said Schrenko.

Working

with teachers to educate students about economics in

innovative ways, the Georgia Council receives support for

the Stock Market Game from the Georgia Securities

Association, INVESCO Capital Management, the Atlanta

Society of Financial Analysts and the Ramsey Chair of

Private Enterprise at Georgia State University.