Local Organization Helps YMCA Kids Learn to Navigate Stock Market

For the last six weeks, area children have been learning valuable stock market lessons all by playing a game. 

The Freehold Sunrise Optimist Club, a community service organization dedicated to "bringing out the best in kids", teamed up with the Freehold Borough YMCA to show students between fifth and eighth grade how to navigate the stock market.

“We are always looking for ways to get kids and members involved in a hands-on activity,” said Freehold Sunrise Optimist President Brian Furie. “Since a fair amount of club members have experience in accounting and in the financial field we thought an educational stock market activity would be beneficial for all involved.”

Every Thursday for the last six weeks, 41 children came to the Borough YMCA to play in the Freehold Sunrise Optimist first ever Stock Market Picking Game. Each session was an hour long and involved a 20-minute educational lecture and advice, followed by the game.

To start, each youth team was given a mock $10,000. Each group tracked their stock sales and purchases weekly to make the most money. Over the course of the program, their stocks were tracked through websites and status reports.

At the last day of the program, the three teams with the top earning portfolio values were given trophies.

“The kids were very energetic and self propelled by the activity,” explained Furie. “It was a really close competition.”

At this time, the Freehold Sunrise Optimists are planning on running a similar program in the fall. For more information on the Optimists, visit their website at www.sunrise-optimist.com.