The stock market can feel foreign and unwelcoming to high schoolers due to its complex systems and strategies, but Investment Club wants to help students feel more comfortable exploring the financial world, junior Charlie Preston, Investment Club board member, said. Investment Club brings together over 60 members from all grade levels to educate, inspire, and encourage South students’ interests in investing, Brian Whalen, Career and Technical Education Teacher and Investment Club sponsor, said.
The club meets every other Thursday in Room 2139 and is perfect for those interested in investing, but lack time in their schedules for the Investment Strategies class, Whalen said. Whalen began sponsoring the club nine years ago, when a group of students approached him with an interest in the stock market, but no time to take the class. The club includes lessons on different aspects of the economy and mock experience through different games, Whalen said.
“The focus is on all things stock market, investing, finance,” Whalen said. “We do a good job of covering not just the stock market but [also] what [is] going on in the economy.”
A typical meeting includes a slideshow created by one of the three board members, Preston said. The presentations explain one specific concept in the stock market combined with information on current events, such as Meta AI development, selected to demonstrate the correlation between news and the economy, Preston said. The meetings usually conclude with a game to practice and test the skills they learned, junior Gabriel Etinger, Investment Club board member, said.
“[Investing is] a crucial skill [for] later in life [and] this club gives [students] the opportunity to [build a] good foundation and widen their horizon,” Etinger said.
Many members are not currently enrolled in the Investment Strategies class, but the club is a great alternative, offering a more simple and accessible perspective of investing, Etinger said.
“We use certain terms, stock strategies, and ideas that are reiterated in the class,” Etinger said. “The club is [an] opportunity while the class is more specific and has more specialized activities and training.”
One of the most effective and fun tools used in the club is the Stock Market Simulator, which encourages students to explore investing by giving them a realistic experience of selecting stocks and managing both their successes and failures, Preston said.
“You [are] given [an imaginary] $10,000 and [are] able to buy, sell, short, and cover stocks,” Preston said. “Shorting is [when] you bet the stock price will go down, so it [is] more risky.”
Outside of studying how to grow wealth, learning about the stock market allows students to grow life skills that will apply to their futures, Whalen said.
“[Investing] gives students the opportunity to think critically about their decisions, [and] builds good research and decision-making [skills] from deciding which [stock] is the best investment for [them],” Whalen said.
