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Joliet Township High School District 204

! Dr. Cheryl McCarthy Superintendent 815/727-6970 Fax: 815/727-1277 Mrs. Karla Guseman Assistant Superintendent Educational Services 815/727-6972 Fax: 815/727-1277 Mr. Ilandus Hampton Assistant Superintendent Business Services 815/727-6960 Fax: 815/774-1600 300 Caterpillar Drive Joliet, IL 60436 www.jths.org

Joliet West students receive Cabrera Statewide Award for Stock Market Game Joliet, IL May 21, 2013 After taking first place in the Stock Market game last fall, Joliet West students Kameron Hargrove, Phillip McClellan and Lejon Wise were recently awarded the Cabrera Statewide Award through Econ Illinois, an award given to only one group of high school students from a pool of nearly 2,500 teams. The Stock Market Game is designed for students to work together in teams to create a portfolio by researching and evaluating the current stock market. The three students began the game with a virtual cash amount of $100,000, and increased their portfolio to $136,212, earning them first place in the high school division. Their earnings stood as the highest amount for the high school division for the entire 2012-2013 school year, said Joliet West teacher and mentor to the students, Kenneth Poort. I believe the students won the competition because they made the right choices at the right time. They decided to invest in Barnes and Noble at the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, which is where the majority of their earnings were made. They also hit it pretty big on Netflix. Wise reiterated Poorts statement regarding the investment route his team took by saying, We invested in all the right stocks, and in doing so, we won. The Cabrera Statewide Award is paid for by Cabrera Capital Markets and is given to the two teams scoring highest in their grade level from two fall sessions and two spring sessions of the Stock Market Game. One award was presented to students in Grades 4-8, and the other to students in Grades 9-12. As part of the honor, the three students were taken on a tour of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, Cabrera Capital Markets and the Federal Reserve bank of Chicago. While there, they were able to see live trading take place in two instances, one at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and another at Cabrera Capital. The students also

received an award certificate and a check for $200. [The] experience going to Chicago looking at how stocks work was great, Wise said. We saw that the stock market is not the same as it has been; everything is more hightech. I had a wonderful time, and give thanks for all that helped make this possible for me and my teammates. Poort hopes that the experience has helped his students get a look at future career possibilities. The trip to Chicago was a great learning experience for the students who got to see firsthand some possible careers in live action, he said. It really opened their eyes to some possibilities.

The mission of Joliet Township High School, a diverse and unified learning community of choice, is to empower every student to acquire and apply the attributes to compete and contribute positively to our community and global society by providing a rigorous, relevant, and innovative education in a safe, supportive, academy environment through a quality, caring, and dedicated staff working in partnership with family and community.

Joliet Township High School ensures equal educational opportunities are offered to students, regardless of race, color, national origin, age, gender, religion, disability, veteran's status, or marital status.