Winning elementary, middle and high school teams of the Nebraska Stock Market Game were celebrated at the Banquet of Champions awards ceremony on April 30, 2014. The competition is presented by the Nebraska Council on Economic Education.

Governor Dave Heineman attended the event and credited the competition with helping raise the level of financial awareness in the state.

“These students are being taught financial investment and responsibility at an early age,” Heineman said. “It’s important because it benefits them personally and will also help keep the Nebraska economy strong moving forward.”

The Nebraska Stock Market Game is a 15-week, online investment competition for students in grades 4-12. Teams of two to five students invest a virtual $100,000 in stocks, bonds and mutual funds listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Exchange and the NASDAQ.

Norris High School students mastered the markets this spring, turning their $100,000 into $131,340 in 105 days, which earned them the title of State Champions for having the highest final investment total. Out of 935 teams, there is one winning team a semester for each of the three divisions in the competition. Norris took first place in the High School division in the Spring 2014 competition and first place in the Middle School division in the Spring 2014 competition! Congratulations to these terrific Titans.

Participants were also invited to write an essay for the InvestWrite competition, an extension of the program. The essay competition winners included Alex Dick of Norris Middle School.