Arkansas Baptist Students Finish 7th In Nationwide Stock Market Competition

A group of Arkansas Baptist High School students got an early taste of business and success as they participated for the first time in the Capitol Hill Challenge.

The students – seniors Sarah Glass, Todd Hickingbotham, Cody Guy and junior Chase Dunnaway – won seventh place in the stock market competition this year and traveled Monday to the nation’s capital to receive an award.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) sponsored the contest nationally while the group Economics Arkansas supports state participation.

The Stock Market Game-Capitol Hill Challenge is in its 12th year of competition, according to the SIFMA web site, although it was originally started in 1977 in Buffalo, New York.

The 14-week challenge organizes teams of middle and high school students by congressional district and state and teaches the importance of saving and investing, while simultaneously promoting a better understanding of government.

Teams invest a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learn the value of saving, investing, and the capital markets as they work together to maximize the return of their portfolios.

This year, more than 15,000 students representing 4,300 teams from 742 schools participated in the hands-on financial literacy program.

Angie Hopkins, who advised the Arkansas Baptist students, said after hearing about the competition, she spoke with the office of Cong. French Hill, R-Little Rock, about participating.

The rules were simple, Hopkins said.

The students were given their hypothetical $100,000 to invest along with a list of rules. The students did the research and studied the track records of several different companies.

Hopkins said the students had a 39% rate of return on their investment.

The work was done in the school’s personal finance classes. Hopkins said the classes are popular at Arkansas Baptist with students learning a variety of nuances in the field of finance.

“These are pretty big classes. The kids are interested,” Hopkins said. “The first semester, the students learn about budgeting, insurance and writing a check which is not done much anymore. The second semester, they learn about investing.”

Glass will be attending Hendrix College in Conway to study biochemistry, while Hickingbotham will attend Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia to study business management. Guy will attend Pulaski Tech and UALR to study health and to become a coach, Hopkins said.

Hickingbotham said the competition gave him an opportunity to see “what businesses are hot and which ones are fading away.”

VISITING D.C.
Hopkins said she and the students have had an opportunity this week to see the nation’s capital.

The students had an opportunity to visit Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark. and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., as well as Cong. French Hill, R-Little Rock.

The group plans to take a tour of the Capitol and meet with Hill Thursday.

Also, the students have had an opportunity to meet with officials from Morgan Stanley and RBC among other financial services companies.