Kalaheo team chalks up best return
Students taught by Tina Shaffer saw their portfolio grow 24.6%
Picking stocks may not be as easy as A-B-C, but Hawaii students proved this fall to be well schooled in making investment decisions.
In a 10-week competition that ended Nov. 17, a team from Kalaheo High School chalked up the best return of any group with a gain of 24.6 percent in the semiannual Hawaii Stock Market Simulation Program that is offered by the Hawaii Council on Economic Education.
Taylor Cook, Jason Timm and Talon Wemple, who are taught by Tina Shaffer, saw their aggressive division portfolio swell to $124,606.98 after starting with a hypothetical $100,000.
Results were recalculated after the end of the competition to make sure students met the allocation requirements for their particular division and met the deadlines for purchases. Those participating in the aggressive division were required to have 80 percent of their portfolios in stocks and the other 20 percent in bonds.
Shaffer, who attended two of the council's investing workshops, has participated in the stock simulation program six times and has had four of her teams produce the top portfolio.
The aggressive division's second-place team, HI705667, was from Baldwin High School and was taught by Terri Sakevitz. It had a 19.6 percent gain to finish with $119,855.37.
The other division winners and runners-up were:
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Growth: Emandamanda of Kealakehe High School, taught by Joanne Kekuaokalani, with $110,480.74, up 10.5 percent; Apples=P of Kealakele High, taught by Joanne Kekuaokalani, with $106,293.12, up 6.3 percent.
» Income/growth: HI707370 of Mililani High School, taught by Loraine Honda, with $102,385.62, up 2.4 percent; Aop'Z Finest of Academy of the Pacific, taught by Mary C. Costello, with $101,131.34, up 1.1 percent.
» Elementary: Rampaging Rhinos 5-16 of Manoa Elementary, taught by Trent Takamiya, with $120,018.21, up 20 percent; HI703396 of Kealakehe Intermediate, taught by Peggy Spencer, with $115,365.19, up 15.4 percent.
The students on the winning teams received $100 savings bonds and the team members of the second-place teams received $50 savings bonds.
The interactive competition, which helps students learn how the U.S. market system works, started on the state's four major islands on Sept. 11 and included more than 2,500 students and 60 teachers representing 59 schools. The next simulation will be Feb. 12 to April 20. Teachers can sign up their students at www.hawaiisms.com. For more information, call Kristine Castagnaro at the Hawaii Council of Economic Education, 536-6306, or go to www.hcee.org.
