Regional champions (L-R) Jada Bridges, CeCee Chaney and Malarah Cook (far right) celebrate their win with teacher Deborah Rasnake and State School Superintendent Kathy Cox, who served as the banquet’s keynote speaker.

As investors pull their money away from the stock market, some savvy high school students prove that investing is profitable, even in tough economic times.

Three students in Deborah Rasnake’s economics class at Fayette County High participated in the Georgia Stock Market Game at the beginning of the school year, taking a hypothetical $100,000 and turning a $16,896 profit in a 10-week period. They earned the most money in their region and were crowned region champions.

The winning students are Jada Bridges, CeCee Chaney and Malarah Cook. They were honored, along with other regional winners, at a banquet held at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot in Atlanta earlier this month.

The Georgia Council on Economic Education sponsors the Stock Market Game each fall and spring semester for elementary through high school students. Students start off with a hypothetical portfolio of $100,000 and for 10 weeks they research publicly traded companies on the Internet, read business publications and crunch numbers to select stocks. The team from each region with the highest portfolio value at the end of the 10 weeks wins.

The Stock Market Game is designed to give teachers a tool for helping students develop a solid understanding of how private enterprise works. Economic education is not just about financial literacy; it’s also about the larger economic forces that affect everyone’s financial circumstance.