Pearland Junior High West wins stock market competition

Pearland Junior High West teammates William Nguyen, left, Sophia Pham, August Aimone, Karen Gonzalez, Ruth Aimone and Stephanie Pena each won $50 from the Texas Council on Economic Education.

A team from Pearland Junior High West won first place in the Houston regional Stock Market Game, held earlier this spring.

The team members were Karen Gonzalez, William Nguyen, Stephanie Pena and Sophia Pham.

Led by math teacher August Aimone, the team increased its virtual investment by more than 30 percent to win the competition. They were each awarded $50 from the Texas Council on Economic Education.

The nation's largest educational investment simulation program, the Stock Market Game teaches students in grades 4-12 about personal finance through math, social studies, business, economics and language skills.

Teams use simulation to learn investing basics, receiving a virtual $100,000 to invest in stocks, bonds or mutual funds and create and manage online portfolios for 10 weeks. The Pearland Junior High team raised their initial value to $131,355 to win first place.

The Stock Market Game is offered by the Texas Council on Economic Education and the SIFMA Foundation. More than 10 million students have participated in the competition since it was introduced in 1977.